Serve the Dragon Lord
by LavenderQuetzal
Summary: Sequel to Destroy the Human Keys-Bradley is summoned to Wyrmroost to prove himself to be a true, worthy dragon brother. Joining him will be Alexis, Lena, and a rookie dragon tamer named Will. Problem is...Bradley still doesn't have a clue who Lena is.
1. Fantasizing

_A small white light penetrated the foreboding darkness of the rocky cave. Lena's head popped over the side of the cliff, her plain yellow headlamp casting a crude glow over the stalactites._

"_I think I see something," Lena called down, crawling into the cave. "Are you almost up here?"_

_Alexis popped up beside Lena. "What do you see?"_

"_A little sparkle over there," Lena pointed into the black abyss of the cave's inner tunnels. The light from her headlamp lit up a few dismal gray stalagmites. Sure enough, something twinkled in the deep dark distance._

_Lena helped Alexis over the edge, and both girls peered into the blackness. Alexis adjusted her own headlamp and the two began to creep quietly towards the sparkle._

"_So, have you ever actually seen one of these things?" Alexis whispered. "Cus I saw the Animal Planet Lost Tapes episode about them and I read a couple books, so we should be really careful. They're nasty things. And they've got like a bajillion names cus they're all over the place and everyone calls 'em something different—there's some normal ones like 'cave demon' or 'death bat' but there's also some really cool foreign ones like 'Olititau' and there's one that I really like and that's 'Athol' cus the sound they make is like a-hool, or at least that's what the Animal Planet thing said. But like in Madagascar or someplace they call it 'Organ-Bati'. I don't know, I thought it just sounded sorta weird. Organ bat. I think I'm just gonna call them Athol cus that sounds cool. Plus, that's like the Indonesian name for them and that's kinda where we are now. Right?"_

"_Okay, I honestly don't know," Lena whispered back, "but chances are they're gonna wake up and eat us unless you shush."_

"_Oh," Alexis mouthed silently. "Sorry."_

_Lena looked up and her headlamp shone a dull glow over a few dismal gray stalagmites—and two huge, angry orange eyes._

_The bat creature screeched and flapped its enormous wings._

"And then you yell something like to warn me or to taunt the creature," Alexis said animatedly. "So it screams at you and tries to bite you with its big ugly fangs, but you blast it back with a burst of white light from your palm. We both think it's defeated, but then it leaps up and screeches and knocks you aside with its ginormous wings. All hope seems lost, until I suddenly rush in with my epic ninja skills—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Lena said, waving her hands in an effort to calm Alexis' tongue. "Um, I don't think I caught the beginning part. Why are we in a cave again?"

"We're looking for a magical ancient artifact that will restore everyone's memories of you and what happened," Alexis explained. "Hidden deep within the caves of Monte Carlo. Wait, is Monte Carlo in Indonesia?"

"I think it's actually in Europe somewhere," Lena answered. "Also, since when did you have 'epic ninja skills'?"

Alexis shrugged.

It had been a week since Lena had returned home, and since then she had gotten another shot at her new school, with Alexis there to get her settled in and comfortable. Alexis had been Lena's closest friend at school, thanks to both Alexis' natural friendliness and their shared memories of the past experiences. The two had gotten together many a night after school to discuss everything from their stupid English teacher to ways to make Bradley and everyone else remember the lost adventure. Now they were fantasizing about the latter up in Lena's bedroom.

"Do you have any food?" Alexis asked suddenly. "I'm starving."

Lena got up off of the beanbag chair she had been slouching in for the past hour and trotted down the stairs into the kitchen, with Alexis on her heels. Lena opened the fridge and began looking for something for her friend to eat.

"There's some leftover pizza," Lena suggested. "Or some yogurt."

"Oo, what flavor?"

"Mostly just blueberry." Lena reached into the fridge and started shuffling the yogurt around, looking for another flavor. "Here's a key lime pie one. And a harvest peach."

"Key lime pie!" Alexis exclaimed. "That's my favorite flavor. I used to really like strawberry, but when I did that I had never had key lime pie before and so when I first tried it I was kind of didn't want to at first but then once I did I was like 'Omigosh that's sooo good!' and now it's my extreme favorite flavor. What's your favorite flavor of yogurt?"

"I like the pineapple upside-down cake flavor." Lena handed Alexis the yogurt and grabbed a container of blueberry for herself. She also grabbed the half-empty Little Caesar's pizza box and set it on the table. Finally she retrieved some spoons from the kitchen drawer and sat herself down.

Alexis took a few bites of her pale green yogurt and glanced at the pizza box.

"I wonder…" she said, licking her dry lips. Alexis reached across the table, opened the pizza box, took a slice of pepperoni pizza, and started dipping it in her yogurt.

"Ew," Lena said.

Alexis took a bite of her yogurt-covered pizza. "Hm. Pretty good. Lime-flavored yogurt on cold pizza—who knew?"

Lena laughed. "That is so gross."

"No grosser than caramel-covered chicken nuggets."

"Eww!"

"You seriously don't do that? Every time I go to McDonald's I get chicken nuggets and apple dippers and then I dip my nuggets in the caramel sauce. It's so yummy! Also I dip my French fries in my milkshake, and one time I had chocolate pudding on a ham sandwich. I actually got that idea from a book I read—Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli. Have you read that? It's really good but it was like the girl said she was sad there was no such thing as chocolate cake pizza and the narrator was like 'She's serious, I've seen her dip a ham sandwich in chocolate pudding before' so anyway I tried it and it was really really good."

"You're so weird."

The girls laughed and continued eating. Lena rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue whenever Alexis dipped her pizza in her yogurt.

"Alexis Charlotte Blaskenjoom, if you don't answer your phone right now I will totally go ninja on you!" shouted a new voice suddenly. Lena jumped, and Alexis grinned.

"That's just my ringtone," Alexis explained, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket as the sound repeated itself.

"Nice," Lena said.

Alexis looked at the screen and her eyes widened. "Hey, it's Bradley!"

"What?" Lena jumped up out of her chair to look at Alexis' caller ID. Sure enough, the words "Bradley Hutchinson" were running across the top of the screen.

"Should I answer it?" Alexis asked.

"Duh!" Lena exclaimed.

Alexis tentatively pressed the button and put her cousin on speakerphone.

"Hello?" Alexis said.

"Alexis?" said Bradley's voice. "When you called me on Wednesday, you said everyone was talking about magic and stuff. Does that include dragons?"

Both pairs of eyes widened.

"Um, dragons?" Alexis grinned. "Yeah. Why?"

"There's one on my front lawn. Calling my name."


	2. The Girl on the Phone

Bradley swallowed hard. There was a dragon on his front lawn. The dragon can talk and knows his name. His crazy cousin and her friend apparently know all about dragons and are somehow certain that he's not hallucinating. Dragons aren't real.

"Lena says dragons are like super mondo ginormous so how exactly can it fit on your front lawn?" Alexis said over the phone.

"I don't know!" Bradley looked back out the window. The dragon gave him a look like "Are you coming or what?"

Bradley glanced at the doorknob. Thankfully, it was still locked.

"What should I do?" Bradley asked.

"Uh…hold on, you should talk to Lena."

The dragon began pacing the grass.

A new voice came onto the phone. "Hi, Bradley."

"Uh, hi. Who are you again?"

"Lena," the voice answered, sounding a bit sad. "Your—Alexis' friend."

"Okay, great. Nice to meet you. There's a dragon out here. What do I do?"

"First of all, I'm guessing that in order to be small enough to be on your front lawn, it can't be a normal dragon. Or at least not a full-grown one. Can you give me anything specific about its appearance?"

"It's a dragon. Do you need more?"

"What color is it?"

Bradley grabbed a chair and put it against the door like he had seen in the movies. "I don't know, kinda silvery-ish."

"Are your mom and dad home? They're good with dragons."

"Seriously?"

"Are they home?"

"No! They went out for the night."

"What about your sisters?"

"They're asleep in their room. I'm babysitting them. Wait, how'd you know I have sisters?"

"Alexis told me."

"Whatever. You still haven't told me how to deal with the dragon."

Suddenly, the door slammed open, throwing the chair across the room. Bradley screamed and pressed himself against the far wall as the dragon poked its head into the doorway.

"I know how to deal with the dragon," the dragon said calmly. "And the real reason that Lena knows about your sisters. Would you prefer to travel the conventional way or the way you used last time? Actually, you're babysitting, so you should probably stay here."

Bradley stared in shock and confusion at the dragon as a gasp and a squeal of delight came over the phone.

"That you, Lena?" the dragon asked. "Sit tight. I'll be there in three or four minutes and I'll bring you back over here."

Several hundred miles away, Lena grinned. "I freaking love you, Raxtus."

The dragon pulled its head out of the doorway and flew off. Bradley choked out a meaningless squeak, and lost consciousness.

XIXIX

A cool hand on his forehead was the first sensation Bradley had before opening his eyes. When he did, he saw a pretty girl with white-blonde hair that grew just past her shoulders and bright silvery-blue eyes. He was lying on his bed, and the girl was sitting next to him. She was wearing a plain V-neck green t-shirt and slightly smiled when she saw that he was awake.

"Hey," the girl said softly. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah." Bradley groggily tried to sit up, propping himself up on his elbows. The girl took her hand off his forehead and put it in her lap.

"What happened?" Bradley asked. "How'd you get here? Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me," the girl deduced dejectedly.

"Never seen you in my life."

The girl closed her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah."

With a small sigh, tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and smoothed down the blanket she was been sitting on. "I'm Lena. Raxtus brought us over."

"Raxtus?"

"The dragon who was on your lawn. He's a friend of mine. Apparently you fainted after he flew off, so he brought us here and we helped you up here."

Memories of the encounter began flooding back to him. "Aha. Wait, you were the girl on the phone, right?"

Lena nodded.

"Ooh, you're awake," Bradley's cousin suddenly chirped, opening the door and popping in. "Have a nice nap? Well, even though it wasn't technically a nap, cus you actually fainted. Uh…have a nice faint? Nah, that sounds weird. Anyway, you're good now, right? Cus you're gonna have to stay awake on the next ride cus we're gonna be explaining stuff. Well, actually it'll probably just be Raxtus and Lena explaining, actually mostly Raxtus cus the rest of us still don't know what's going on ourselves so probably I'll just pop in at random moments with stuff that I do know. Anyway, you're good?"

"Yeah, sure. How long have I been out?" Bradley asked.

"Only about half an hour," Lena informed him. "Jane and Ella are still asleep."

"And I just checked on them and they are sooo freaking cute!" Alexis added. "Jane's got her little pink bunny tucked under her arm and at first I didn't see it because it's like the exact same color as her pajamas which by the way are like super adorable but then I'm like 'Omigosh how the heck did she fall asleep she can never fall asleep without her bunny' and then I just thought 'She's growing up so fast!' but then I saw it and I'm like 'Aww' and then Ella's all tucked in under her blanket all perfect even though I know she's like totally a toss-and-turner."

"That is totally unrelated to the situation," Bradley said, sitting up on his bed. "Why did the dragon even come here?"

Lena smiled. "Because your presence is requested by none other than the great Celebrant—the king of the dragons himself."

Bradley moved his mouth wordlessly for a few moments, and then found his voice. "Say what?"

Lena's grin widened as she grabbed Bradley's hand and pulled him to his feet.


	3. Pit Stop

Struggling to remember Alexis' snack preferences and Bradley's allergy specifications, Lena flipped over the package of flavored sunflower seeds and scanned over the ingredients.

"Hey, Lena, check this out!" Alexis called from an aisle or two over. She held up a small crystal dolphin, turning it at the perfect angle for the light shining through it to refract into a rainbow.

Lena smiled and waved Alexis over to her aisle. "I forgot. What's Bradley allergic to again?"

"Onions," Alexis reminded her. "They're not as bad if they're dehydrated, like they usually are in these snacks, but we should steer clear anyway. It's still pretty bad."

Lena replaced the sunflower seeds. "Anyone for Oreos?"

As Alexis proceeded to list why Oreos would be a bad idea, Lena tuned out and let her gaze wander toward the bathroom door through which Bradley had disappeared nearly ten minutes ago. She wished again that Joy had let Bradley stay with her that night.

"And then it'd be kinda hard to eat them the right way while you're riding a dragon." Alexis put the mini package of Oreos back on the shelf. "You know what? You go wait outside, I'll pick out some snacks. And a pair of sunglasses, there were some really cute ones over there!"

As Alexis made a beeline to the sunglasses rack, Lena took her friend's advice and headed out to the front of the nearly-empty convenience store.

_I do not regret your friend's absence for the near end of the world._

Lena clenched her teeth. The last time she had seen Joy, Joy had given Lena all the light in her body to save Lena's life. The ordeal had formed a link between the two girls, allowing them to communicate telepathically.

_What do you want, Joy?_

The other voice in Lena's head sounded exasperated. _For the last time, the Joy you thought you knew no longer exists. In all honesty, she never did. My name is Aisha, and I wish to be addressed appropriately._

_So you just wanted to correct me? Thanks. Can you leave now?_

_Where are you?_

Lena rolled her eyes and sat on the bench next to the freezer full of packaged ice. _Yeah, right. Your letter specifically told me to avoid you._

_Very wise. I'll find you anyway._

_Thanks for the warning._

The truth was that Lena, Bradley, and Alexis were taking a pit stop at a small gas station in North Dakota, on their way to Wyrmroost. Raxtus was out hunting, with instructions to return as soon as Bradley was done with his bathroom break and everyone had their food. They had delayed their departure long enough for Bradley to run next door to get his neighbor to watch Jane and Ella; and then they made one other stop at Alexis' house, so she could grab her purse containing some of her allowance and tell her parents that she was spending the night at Lena's.

A chilly October wind appeared out of nowhere, blowing a few strands of Lena's hair out of her ponytail and into her face. Lena shivered, zipped up the sweatshirt Alexis had grabbed for her, and slipped her cold hands into her pockets. Suddenly, a new voice popped into her head.

_Lena, I've been trying to get through for nearly an hour! Your mother is worried sick, where the—_

"Hey! Earth to Lena!"

Lena pulled her hand out of her pocket, dropping her magic coin and breaking the connection with her father, and shook her head. "Whoa, hang on, too many talking to me at once!"

Alexis gestured dramatically toward herself with the bag of Cheetos she was holding. "Actually, just one. Dude, you were like totally zoning out! I've been trying to get your attention for like a half hour! Well, that's actually really exaggerating, since I just got out here a couple minutes ago, but it felt like forever cus you went way off in La-La-Lena-Land."

"Sorry," Lena apologized. "One talking to me, two others kind of…thinking. To me. Kinda confusing."

"Not really," Alexis disagreed, sitting on the bench next to Lena. "Telepathy and stuff. Pretty simple. By the way, I got all the snacks and stuff. Since there's no one perfect food that fits every need, everyone gets their own. Yay. I got mini Chips Ahoy for you, epic sunglasses for me, and Flamin' Cheetos for Bradley, which have onion powder in them but he eats them all the time anyway and nothing happens. I think like the spiciness counteracts it or something. It's so funny when he accidentally eats onions or something with onions in it cus his face gets all red and swelled up and it does something to his voice box or something cus his voice gets all deep and rough like some kind of blues singer or something, it's hilarious!"

The latter mentioned snack was promptly snatched from Alexis' hand as Bradley walked out of the gas station and plopped down in between Lena and Alexis.

"Speak of the devil," Lena joked.

Alexis put on her "epic" sunglasses and grinned. "It took you long enough. I thought you might have fallen in."

"Okay, that joke was funny when I was, like, five, but you saying it now is just gross," Bradley retorted.

"Yeah, your butt's way too big for you to fall in now," Alexis teased, swiping the Cheetos back out of Bradley's hand.

"Should I call Raxtus back?" Lena suggested, interrupting the cousins' banter.

Bradley held his Cheetos protectively to his chest. "Nah, we got time to just sit around."

Lena held up her hands for Alexis to toss her the Chips Ahoy. "Yeah, except for that sign stating that 'Loiterers Will Be Arrested'."

Alexis handed Lena her cookies and adjusted her sunglasses. "Running away to go on a death-defying mission with a dragon, spending my allowance on junk food, and then loitering where we are specifically told not to. We are such rebels."

XIXIXIX

"So, you seem to be getting used to me a lot faster than last time," Raxtus pointed out as they flew effortlessly across the border between the U.S. and Canada.

"Yeah, well," Bradley replied, looking back over the border, "I'm still waiting to wake up and tell my parents about this crazy dream."

Alexis gave a short laugh. "This makes a heck of a lot more sense than all of my dreams. I remember last night I dreamed that I was trying out for a play version of Aladdin like the Disney one and so we were all singing the Prince Ali song and then when it was done the guy who was playing Aladdin was singing like a Christmas song and I was just like 'What why are you singing that' but it sounded really cool though and also there was this wrestler dude and he needed his brother so he gave me a letter for his brother and I went and there were a bunch of dudes who looked all the same so I didn't know which one was the wrestler dude's brother so it was really awkward. Oh and also there was this really cute sweatshirt…"

Still babbling on and on, her mouth moving almost unconsciously, Alexis looked over at Lena, who was resting silently in Raxtus' other claw. Lena had been really quiet for a while, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" Alexis asked her friend. "You're zoning out again."

Lena snapped to attention. "Huh? Oh. Just thinking."

Alexis nodded. "Okay. Thinking is good. Can you imagine what the world would be like if nobody ever thought? Yeesh. Of course, if nobody thought, you wouldn't be able to imagine it. Cus imagining is thinking. Right? Yeah, I think so. Haha, there it is again. Hey, what's that? I thought there weren't any people here. Or is that a moose? There's lots of mooses here, right? Wait, is mooses a word?"

"No, it's just moose," Bradley corrected. "Like one sheep and a bunch of sheep. Or one deer and a bunch of deer. One moose and a bunch of moose."

"It should be meese," Lena cut in. "Like one goose and a bunch of geese, one moose and a bunch of meese."

"That sounds like it would be a mouse."

Raxtus started descending toward the supposed moose in the ravine. "If it is a moose, would you guys be disturbed if I ate it?"

All three of Raxtus' passengers responded differently at the same time.

"Oh, ew, don't," Lena said, recoiling at the thought.

"Didn't you just go hunting, like, half an hour ago?" Alexis asked skeptically.

"I didn't know dragons had a taste for moose," stated Bradley.

Raxtus leveled out, still fifty or so feet above the moose. "I like aurochs better, but moose is okay. And yeah, I've eaten enough."

Suddenly, the moose looked up and shouted something, revealing that it was not a moose but in fact a man. Alexis yelled in surprise.

"Omigosh, it's a dude!" Alexis screamed. "That's not a moose, that's a dude!"

"Ow! What the—" Raxtus exclaimed.

"Hey, can you hear me up there?" yelled the guy in the ravine, his voice magnified probably with magic or something and, Alexis noticed, sounding like a teenager.

"He shot at me!" Raxtus cried.

"Well, you're a dragon flying with three kids in your claws," said Bradley. "I'd shoot at you too."

"Just in case, we should probably fly down and check it out," Lena advised.

Alexis' hair whipped around in the wind as Raxtus complied with Lena's advice, descending quickly toward the shooting figure.

"Okay, what's with the shooting?" Raxtus asked when they landed.

Alexis stared at the young man aiming a crossbow at Raxtus' forehead. He had longish black hair, silvery hazel eyes, and was wearing black jeans and a green adventurer-ish-looking vest over a gray t-shirt that showed off a nice set of abs (at least, in Alexis' opinion).

"You tell me," the man challenged. "These arrowheads are adamant, dipped in drumant saliva. Inescapably lethal, even to a dragon. Amazing what I had to do to get even one of these, much less a whole quiver. So let's make a deal—let the kids go, and I'll put my bow away. Make a move to hurt me or any of them, and you're dead. "

Even though the young man's threats were pointless and against her friend, Alexis' heart fluttered.

Raxtus opened his claws and set his passengers on the ground. "You think I kidnapped them. I'm flattered."

The young man lowered his bow and loosened the arrow. "Seriously?"

"He was hatched by fairies," Lena explained.

"Yeah, but I wasn't gonna tell him that," Raxtus told Lena, a bit annoyed. "Come on! He was acting like I was actually a normal dragon."

"Well, I knew you weren't normal," the man said.

Raxtus laid himself down on the ground like a tired dog. "Meh, I'm used to it. Carry on with introductions and such."

"That's Raxtus," said Lena. "I'm Lena."

The young man smiled. "And the rest of you?"

"I'm Alexis," Alexis blurted. "And that's my cousin Bradley."

"You know, I am capable of saying my own name," Bradley frowned.

Alexis ignored him. "What's your name?"

The young man held up a hand. "Hold on, let me figure out if it'll impress you yet. So, you've got three kids and a dragon who apparently is _not _kidnapping them. What's your story?"

"Why do you care?" Lena asked.

"Curiosity."

"Too bad. Come on guys, let's go."

"Wait, wait, wait," Bradley cut in. "If those arrows really are as deadly as he says, he could really help us where we're going."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"If we play our cards right and you figure out how to properly use your own skills, we won't need anything like that," Lena countered.

"He should come anyway," Alexis suggested. "He could be good for other stuff, too."

"Such as?"

"Look, if I'm not wanted here, I'll go," the young man said, slinging his bow across his back. "But wherever you're going, good luck finding an archer with these kinds of resources and skills."

Alexis and Bradley both looked at Lena wistfully.

"Raxtus doesn't want an extra thing to carry," Lena argued. "We're heavy enough."

"Actually, another passenger would balance me out more," Raxtus piped up from his resting spot. "Even if he did threaten to kill me."

Lena rolled her eyes. "Alexis, are you seriously using the puppy-pout on me?"

Alexis withdrew her lower lip. "No."

"Did I mention I'm also great with potions?" the young man chimed in.

Lena sighed and threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine. You can come with us."

"Well, if you insist," the man smiled. "I have one more question. You said your name is Lena, yes?"

"Yeah."

"By any chance have you ever been to Fablehaven?"

"The preserve? My uncle's the caretaker."

"Seth Sorenson is your uncle? I've heard stories about him. Slayer of demons, last true shadow charmer, wielder of the legendary sword Vasilis."

"Yeah. Stuff like that."

"Cool."

"You still haven't told us your name," Alexis pointed out. "Who are you?"

The young man glanced at Alexis, Bradley, Raxtus, and then back to Lena. He smirked.

"I'm Patton Burgess."


	4. Trick of the Dark

Lena raised an eyebrow in surprise and a little bit of skepticism. "You serious?"

Patton grinned.

"Hi, Patton," Alexis gushed. "I'm Alexis."

"You said that already," Bradley pointed out.

"Oh."

"You guys, can I talk to you for a second?" Lena said quietly, turning away from the impossible young man. "Excuse us."

"Of course," said Patton with a flourishing gesture for Lena to continue.

"What's the matter?" Bradley whispered.

"That guy can't be Patton Burgess," Lena susurrated.

"…Why not?" Alexis asked. "Is there another Patton Burgess you know?"

"Patton Burgess is a legend in the magic world," Lena explained. "Dragon tamer, demon slayer, world traveler—the greatest adventurer ever."

"Hot _and _legendary," Alexis smiled.

"But he died, like, almost a hundred years ago," said Lena. "And…my uncle said he had a mustache."

"If he died a hundred years ago, how did your uncle know he had a mustache?" Bradley inquired.

"There was this time travel thing," Lena waved off the question. "But the point is—"

"Maybe he used the time travel thing again."

"The Chronometer is hidden and inaccessible right now. The point is, that's not really Patton Burgess. He—"

Lena was interrupted by soft chuckling from behind them. She turned around to see Patton smiling to himself.

"I'm sorry ," he apologized, shaking his head, "but that was funny."

"What are you talking about?" Lena asked.

"That reaction," he specified. "Sad that your friends aren't as educated. A triple version of that face would have been priceless."

Lena rolled her eyes. "Ah. Cute joke."

"Wait, so you're not the legendary adventure dude?" Alexis clarified.

"Adventure dude, yes; legendary, not yet." He turned to Lena. "It wasn't completely a joke. Patton is my middle name. My first name is Will."

"That's a hot name," Alexis whispered to Lena, who rolled her eyes again.

"That joke would have worked a lot better if we knew who Patton Burgess was before Lena told us," Bradley chimed in, sitting on the ground next to Raxtus.

"Um, your dragon fell asleep," Will mentioned.

Lena and Alexis both turned toward Raxtus. Sure enough, the silvery dragon had his eyes closed and was snoring softly.

"I guess your little joke bored him to sleep," Lena quipped, to which Will smirked.

Alexis nudged Lena. "It wasn't boring! It was funny!" She turned to Will. "That was actually really clever, cus you used your middle name which is actually the name of this awesome guy to make Lena all surprised and stuff and…um…"

"She's not usually this quiet," Bradley piped up, picking up a pebble from the ground and tossing it in the air. "You should ask her about her Dr. Moo sci-fi show thing, she'll go nuts."

"It's Doctor _Who," _Alexis corrected. "And I will not go nuts. It's actually a really great show about this guy called the Doctor and he has this—"

"It was a joke, Alexis," Bradley interrupted. "Please, don't start."

Alexis pursed her lips.

Will clapped his hands. "All right, now that we're all introduced, where are we going again?"

"Wyrmroost," Lena said nonchalantly, turning away as Bradley nudged Raxtus to wake him up. "I'm sure you've heard of it."

Will's smirk shrunk. "The dragon sanctuary?"

"No, Wyrmroost the pickle factory."

"There's a pickle factory called Wyrmroost?" Alexis asked, bewildered.

"Sarcasm, Alexis."

"I know, but still."

"Humans aren't allowed at Wyrmroost," Will frowned.

"Unless they're invited."

"By who?"

"Who do you think?"

Will glanced at Raxtus and Bradley with worry, and then turned back to Lena. She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "Still wanna come?"

A grin slowly spread across Will's face. "And I thought today was gonna be boring."

XIXIXIX

"Eternal youth is nice, but I wish I didn't have to be quite _so _youthful. Do these make me look older?"

Aisha brushed back her black hair and turned toward the shadowy figure in the corner of the hotel room.

"If you wish, mistress," the wraith hissed.

Aisha turned back to the mirror and removed the golden dangle earrings. "Never mind. I suppose age doesn't matter."

She stood up and faced the wraith. "Have you found her?"

"She is traveling north, with three companions and a dragon."

"And the boy?"

"He accompanies her. All but one of her companions are familiar to you."

"Then all but one of them shall perish at my hands."

Aisha waved a hand, dismissing the wraith. It dispersed into hundreds of black bits that dissolved into the air.

Turning back to the simple bathroom mirror, Aisha examined her reflection. It had been so long since she had seen herself—or anything at all. The sight felt good after eight hundred years of blindness. She gazed over her long black hair; her dark, childish face; the pink blouse that was almost small enough for her thin, straight figure.

"Nine years old for all eternity," Aisha complained, pulling her hair into a low ponytail. "Why couldn't I have been sixteen? Or twenty? At least as old as Lena."

She turned around and climbed onto the bed, her brown feet sinking a few inches into the soft mattress. Dropping to her knees and then flopping onto her back, Aisha relished the feeling of the cushions and pillows and quilted bedcovers.

"Perfect vision, a cozy hotel room, a wraith for room service, and an impending battle between light and darkness," Aisha listed, closing her eyes and giving a small smile. "Life doesn't get much better than this."

XIXIXIX

_Bursting out of the side of the mountain, the immense silver dragon chased his enemy. The black dragon flew higher, above the peak's summit and through the dark clouds blanketing the sky. Lightning flashed as snow began to fall. The wind picked up, causing the silver dragon to slow down, but the other dragon would not get away. _

_Deafening roars erupted from both dragons as they collided in midair, jaws snapping and claws tearing at each other. Though the weather worked to the black dragon's advantage, even he could not stand against the king. The silver dragon made a fatal slash across his opponent's neck, causing the black dragon to fall out of the sky. Changing as he fell, it was not the body of a dragon that slammed into the rocky floor of the canyon, but something much smaller and much lighter. The triumphant silver dragon nodded at his fallen foe and flew off._

Bradley opened his eyes. Raxtus' wing was stretched protectively across his passengers like a roof as they slept, his body providing warmth. Bradley rolled over to see that he was alone under the wing—Will was taking watch outside, and the girls were on the other side of the sleeping dragon.

Bradley peeked out from under Raxtus' wing. A small campfire lit with some matches from Will's backpack was just bright enough to illuminate everything within a five-foot radius. Will was sitting on a tree stump next to the campfire, his bow loaded.

"Hey," Bradley said. Will turned his head, startled at first, but he relaxed when he saw that it was just Bradley.

"Go back to sleep, I've still got half an hour left of my watch," Will said, turning back to the woods. "Besides, it's Lena's watch next.

"Nah, I'm awake already," Bradley replied. "Go ahead. I'm good."

Will shrugged and retreated to his sleeping spot. Bradley took his place on the stump. The campfire flickered and snapped. Bradley stared at the twitching flames. He picked up a stick from the ground and tossed it into the fire, watching it burn. The twig curled up in the flame, turning white as ash and eventually shrinking into nothing. Bradley had always enjoyed watching things burn.

"_Run."_

Bradley snapped to attention, listening.

"_Run away. Into the woods."_

The whisper was faint, but powerful, seeming to come from all directions at once.

"_You are traveling to your death. Run!"_

The last word echoed, the order to flee repeating and overlapping. It transformed from one repeated whisper to a thousand different voices—some familiar, some not, all urging him to run.

Bradley whirled around and around, fighting to discern the origin of the pressuring voices. In his panic, he stepped into the fire. The flames licked at his skin and his clothes, climbing but not burning. Bradley stomped and patted at the fire until it was extinguished, plunging the forest around him into blackness. The voices died with the fire.

After staring at his unburned jeans and the silent ashes of the campfire, Bradley sat on the ground and leaned against Raxtus' tail. Too shaken up to sleep but too exhausted not to, Bradley curled up next to the dragon until the stars gave way to dawn.


	5. Only Halfway

Lena gazed up at the enormous gate, set in the middle of a shimmering, colorful barrier.

"Whoa," Alexis breathed. "It's like a super rainbow wall of awesomeness! What happens if we touch it? Will it, like, blow up in our face and send us flying backwards? Or will it just be like a wall?"

"Something like that," Raxtus replied.

"It doesn't really matter," Will stated. "There's no way we can get in without…"

Turning to Lena, Will frowned and raised an eyebrow when he saw a unicorn horn materialize in Lena's hand. Alexis gasped, and Bradley's mouth fell open into a nearly perfect O.

"Whoa! Cool!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Well, as long as you've got that covered, I'll meet you on the other side." Raxtus spread his silvery wings and flew up over the gate.

"Where did you get that?" Will asked.

Lena blushed. "Um, it's…mine."

"Well, yeah, it's impossible to have possession of a unicorn horn unless—"

"No, it's not my unicorn horn," Lena corrected, a bit sheepishly. "It's…_my_ horn."

"Wait," Bradley put in. "Okay, you said you were magic, but you never said you were a unicorn."

"Oh, that's right," Will said, as if remembering something.

"Only halfway," Lena clarified. "My dad's a unicorn, but my mom's normal. Well, human. Now can we just drop the subject and get in there?"

Will half-smiled. "And I thought I had some cool family history."

"Is that why you weren't at school on Thursday?" Alexis asked. "Mrs. Dawson said you were sick but it was cus of that, right? I definitely wouldn't want to come to school with a giant horn sticking out of my forehead. Wait, how does that even work?"

Ignoring Will and Alexis, Lena touched the horn to the huge gates. They swung inward.

"Welcome to Wyrmroost, guys," Lena said. "Let's see how far we get before we're all eaten."

Bradley frowned. "Eaten?"

"Don't worry about that yet," Lena said. "Let's just go get Raxtus."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that," announced a new voice suddenly.

Bradley jumped, Lena gripped her horn like a sword, Alexis yelped in surprise, and Will loaded his bow at the sudden sound.

A tall, beautiful young woman stepped out of the nearby shrubbery, a lit cigarette held between two fingers. She was wrapped in a simple yet elegant lavender gown, with golden sandals upon her feet. Her hair was a lustrous cascade of silvery blue, a color that couldn't possibly have been natural but didn't look dyed either.

"Oh, there's no need for that," the woman said dismissively, waving her cigarette. "I mean you no harm. Yet."

Will loosened the arrow, and Lena lowered her horn.

"Who are you?" Bradley asked.

"Nyssa," she answered simply.

_Nyssa? _Lena thought. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"I'm sure you're familiar with our customs," Nyssa assumed, taking a drag from her cigarette and blowing the smoke toward her visitors. Lena coughed. "Camarat had the day off, shall we say, so I will be the sentry today. What business do you have here? Again?"

"Wait, we've never been here," Alexis argued. Then she gasped. "Unless there's some kind of mind control thing that could have taken us here without us knowing it! There's something like that in the magic world, right?"

"Not you," Nyssa clarified. "But someone close. Parents, perhaps—I recognize something about all of you, except this little magpie. But you haven't answered my question—why are you here?"

"Bradley's been summoned here," Lena explained, cutting off Alexis' immediate magpie question. "By Celebrant."

"Celebrant, calling humans to a forbidden sanctuary?" Nyssa asked in mock surprise. "Please, do continue. I am ever so curious."

"That's it," Bradley said. "We don't know anything else."

Nyssa twirled her cigarette between her fingers casually. "Fair enough. I'll try to go easy on you."

Not giving her visitors time to question her statement, Nyssa flung her cigarette toward Bradley. It transformed in mid-flight into a flaming dagger. Bradley ducked as Lena, shocked into action, dove in front of him and knocked the dagger aside with her horn. Will reloaded his bow and fired an arrow at Nyssa, which she dodged skillfully.

"Two fighters out of four," Nyssa commented, twisting out of the way of another arrow and grabbing Bradley's shoulder. "It's a start."

"Hey, let him go!" Alexis yelled, running toward Bradley, who was struggling against Nyssa's surprisingly strong grip. Nyssa knocked Alexis away with one arm, sending her flying backwards.

"Oh, that's my cue," Nyssa said calmly. Nyssa's perfectly manicured fingernails morphed into talons, and large blue wings erupted from her back.

Lena remembered where she had heard that name.

Before the transformation was complete and Lena could shout out a warning, Will threw his bow to the ground and leapt onto Nyssa's back, sinking his teeth into her neck.

Alexis screamed. "Will's a vampire!"

Will released Nyssa and let her fall to the ground, out cold and back in human form. Bradley scrambled away, and Will wiped his mouth.

"Only halfway," Will said, repeating what Lena had said earlier. "And I'm actually a narcoblix."

Will stood up and stood beside Lena. All four of them were silent for a moment, staring at Nyssa's unconscious form, until Alexis spoke up.

"I think she broke my nose," Alexis announced, wiping away a bit of blood. "Also, what's a narcoblix? Is that just the magic word for vampire or is it something like completely different?"

"Narcoblixes can control people they've bitten in their sleep," Lena and Will explained in unison.

"Oh," Alexis said. "And…what was all that about?"

"She went after me," Bradley pointed out. "Me, specifically. What did I do?"

"And what was with the transforming thing at the end?" Alexis asked. "She was, like, turning into a dragon."

"She _is _a dragon. Nafia," Lena said. "My mom ran into her when they came here years ago. That's probably why she said she recognized something about us."

Alexis sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Ow."

"We should get going," Will said, grabbing his bow and slinging it across his back. "Raxtus'll probably be waiting for us nearby." He gestured toward Lena's horn. "And unless you want to lug that around the whole time, I suggest you put it away."

Lena unzipped her sweatshirt and tucked the horn into an inside pocket. She zipped it back up. "Well, then. Onwards and upwards."

Will grinned. "A half-unicorn and a half-blix. This could work to our advantage."

XIXIXIX

"Ugh, these shoes are killing me," Layla complained as Devon pulled into the driveway. "Next time, can we just grab pizza and a movie?"

"You say to the man wearing a suit he hasn't worn since his wedding," Devon playfully replied, pulling the keys out of the ignition.

Deciding to go barefoot rather than endure a few more minutes of torture, Layla removed her platform stilettos and pushed open the car door.

When Devon opened the door to the house, it nearly swung off its hinges with little provocation. Layla peered into the house, seeing mildly scattered chairs and a sheet of paper on the table.

"Bradley! We're home!" Devon announced.

Only silence answered.

"Jane? Ella?" Layla called.

Nothing.

"What's that on the table?" Devon asked.

Layla picked up the piece of paper, which had been scrawled on with a purple pen. "'Aunt Layla, my friend Lena and I had to take Bradley to Canada for a while. We'll be back in a few days. Jane and Ella are at your neighbor's house next door. Alexis.'"

"Canada?" Devon asked, bewildered. "How did Alexis get here?"

"It's probably just a joke," Layla said. "I'm gonna go get the girls."

"Wait," Devon said, grabbing his wife's arm. "You remember what's in Canada. You don't think he's…found out?"

Layla pursed her lips and looked solemnly at Devon. "It's just a joke. I'm gonna get the girls."

Layla turned and walked out the door.


	6. Narcoblixing

Alexis frowned and blew a wayward strand of brown hair out of her face. "How long are we gonna have to walk? I thought you said Raxtus would be waiting for us nearby. Is nearby just dragon-ese for a million miles away? Cus that's what it feels like we've been walking for. What time is it? Does anyone have a watch? Or is able to tell time with the sun or something?"

"Does she ever stop?" Will whispered to Bradley.

"When she's talking to you," Bradley replied.

Lena looked up at the two peaks that loomed over the sanctuary. "Raxtus just sent me a message; something's come up. He won't be able to meet us until we get to Moonfang."

"You mean we're gonna have to walk all the way there?" Alexis complained.

"Check this out," Bradley said quietly to Will and Lena, smiling and going up to walk by Alexis. "Alexis, refresh my memory. I've forgotten the storyline of the fifth episode of Doctor Who."

"Which season?"

"Umm…the third one."

"Ooh, Martha. That's _Daleks in Manhattan. _So the Doctor and Martha just came back from New New York and now they've landed in old New York in like the 1930's or something and the Empire State Building is still being built an they see this convenient newspaper just lying around and find out that people are going missing…"

Bradley turned around and winked at Will and Lena. Lena rolled her eyes, and Will smirked.

"So don't pretend I don't know who you are," Lena told Will.

Will raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Named after Patton Burgess? Half-narcoblix? I'm not the only one Nyssa recognized."

"Ah, yes."

"From what my mom's told me, our parents were pretty close. How come I've never met you?"

Will shrugged. "My mother's not a big fan of your dad. Blixes and unicorns, you know?"

Lena nodded.

"…and then it shows one of the pig dudes and the characters don't know it yet but you can kinda tell that it's Laszlo and when I saw it I was like 'oh no' but then I was happy cus he wasn't entirely pig like the rest of the dudes so he still likes Tallulah and stuff and it ends up kinda being like Beauty and the Beast or something but anyway…"

"Just think," Will grinned, lightly knocking Lena with his shoulder. "A half-unicorn and a half-blix, named after two of the greatest lovers in the magic world, and we just happen to run into each other on a death-defying mission."

"What, are you suggesting that we're 'meant for each other'?" Lena replied, a bit annoyed. "Gross. You're, like, ten years older than me."

"More like four. Besides, it's not the first time there's been an age difference in a great love story."

"In your dreams, vampire boy."

"Give it time, fairy girl."

"Gross."

"…and it looks really creepy but cool at the same time cus of all the tentacles and stuff but he has snazzy shoes and hey wait hey wait a minute!" Alexis exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. "You said narcoblixes can control people they bit, and Will bit Nyssa who was a dragon. Can Will just control Nyssa and have her fly us to the mountain?

Will pursed his lips. "It's a possibility. I haven't perfected it yet, but it's worth a shot." He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "I've never been a dragon before. In fact, I don't think any narcoblix ever has. Imagine that—William Burgess, the first narcoblix to take on dragon form. Wish me luck."

Will closed his eyes and collapsed. Alexis rushed to catch him, succeeding at first but then crumpling under his weight.

"You should've just let him fall," Lena said, helping Alexis to her feet.

"So now what?" Bradley asked. "We just wait for a giant dragon to come fly us up the mountain?"

"I guess," Lena replied, sitting down on a rock.

XIXIXIX

The first sensation Will had inside Nyssa's body was a cold blade against his neck. Instinctively lashing out, Will propelled Nyssa's superhumanly strong fist into someone's jaw.

"Aaah!" screamed the little girl Will had punched as she fell backwards.

Will shakily stood up. "Whoa. Okay, hold on. Blehh. Girl voice. Anyway, what just happened?"

A young girl, no more than ten years old, lay on her back on the dirty ground. She had dark brown skin and long black hair, and was wearing a simple red tank top despite the chilly October air. She was cradling her injured chin in her hands, glaring at Will. A survival knife with a red handle lay on the ground a few feet away.

"Sorry about that," Will apologized in Nyssa's voice, helping the little girl to her feet. "What are you doing here? How'd you get in?"

"Why do you care?" the girl asked bitterly.

"Are you even real?" Will inquired, examining the girl for any signs of a disguise.

"Who are you?" the girl demanded.

Before he could answer the question, Will swayed and stumbled, losing his balance. Nyssa's body collapsed, and Will opened his own eyes to see Alexis very close to his face.

Alexis scrambled back. "Nothing! I mean, I wasn't, I mean, I was just checking to see if you were okay, I mean—"

Bradley hit Alexis on the arm with the back of his hand and she stopped talking.

"I'm guessing it didn't work very well?" Lena assumed.

"Like I said, I'm only half-narcoblix, and I haven't perfected it yet," Will explained, sitting up. "The connection wasn't stable. Nice to be a guy again."

"Who did you punch?" Bradley asked.

"What? How did you know I punched someone?"

"Your body was kind of moving around. Not much, but enough for us to see that you punched someone, like, as soon as you fell."

Will shook his head dismissively. "Just some kid. Probably wasn't real. Anyway, who's up for lunch?"

"Is it lunchtime already?" Alexis remarked, looking up. "Oh, yeah, cus the sun's like, all the way up. Hey, cool! Would you be able to tell what time it is by the sun moving for the rest of the day? Or just noon cus that's the most obvious one? Huh. Anyway, what kind of food do you have? I got some Cheetos and stuff at a gas station yesterday but I think it's all been eaten and stuff already."

Will took off his backpack and unzipped it, tossing granola bars to Bradley, Lena, and Alexis. Bradley and Lena caught theirs easily, but Alexis fumbled and almost dropped it before triumphantly lifting it up in the air.

"And by the way, Alexis, yes, we are going to have to walk all the way to Moonfang," Will mentioned, unwrapping his own granola bar.

Alexis moaned.

XIXIXIX

"…unless, of course, they decided to take Jennifer's car, in which case they could get there with fewer stops for gas. However, Jennifer has a tendency to drive slower than necessary. So take her average speed combined with the stops on the way, plus the possible traffic problems…divide it by the distance…"

Awakened by her husband muttering theories to himself, Layla climbed out of bed and pulled on a bathrobe over her sleeveless nightgown. She walked down the hall and stopped at the open door of Devon's in-home office.

"Devon, it's almost two in the morning," Layla said, a bit sleepily. "What are you doing up?"

Devon scribbled something on a piece of paper and punched a few numbers into a calculator. "Thinking. Calculating. Theorizing. If you were a thirteen-year-old girl, how would you get your cousin to Canada and back in just a few days?"

He faced Layla and removed his rectangular reading glasses. Layla half-smiled and shrugged. "Take a plane?"

"See, that's what you'd immediately think," Devon replied. "But Alexis and her family have nowhere near enough money to get three plane tickets for a random trip to Canada. I've tried every variable, considered every angle, analyzed every scenario—"

"Made every graph?" Layla added, picking up a hand-drawn pie chart.

Devon put his spectacles back on. "Visual thinker."

"Geek," Layla teased playfully.

"Haven't you heard? Geek is the new sexy."

"Why do you think I married you?"

Devon's gaze lowered toward a drawing on the desk, and his smile faltered.

"I've analyzed everything, and only one explanation is coming up positive."

Layla picked up the sketch, looked at it for a moment, then faced Devon. "Surprise vacation? Elaborate prank?"

Devon shook his head. "Nothing else adds up. This is the only thing, Layla. I'm sorry. Either Bradley's found out, or they have."

"But we worked so hard to hide it," Layla argued, her voice a bit choked. "I thought this was over. And if you're right…"

"He's going to be gone longer than a few days," Devon finished.

Layla let her head fall onto Devon's shoulder. "I don't want to lose my baby."

Devon stroked his wife's hair. "He's a tough kid. He's got Alexis. They'll be fine."

"But what if they're not?"

Devon smiled and gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Either way, I think we're gonna have to kick some dragon tail."

Layla laughed at the childish remark. "Parents to the rescue."


	7. Tirin

"There's a little ledge here," Will warned, carefully navigating the rocky terrain. "Watch your step."

Bradley jumped off the rock and landed next to Will, with Lena following him. Alexis cautiously stepped off the ledge.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lena asked Alexis as the boys went on ahead. "You haven't said anything in at least three minutes."

"I told my mom I was spending the night at your house, and she said to be back for lunch," Alexis admitted. "We always have this thing that every other Saturday we go out for lunch, just the two of us, a different restaurant every time. We were gonna go to that new Olive Garden they just finished today, but instead I'm having granola bars at a super-dangerous-magical-dragon place that I'm guessing we won't survive."

Lena said nothing. This was not the bouncy, carefree Alexis she was used to.

"Wow, that was weird. I, like, never act like that," Alexis grinned, shrugging off her sadness. "I bet everyone else has something sad they have about coming here. But there's also super good stuff too! Like all the epic magic creatures and stuff which actually we kinda haven't seen any of those yet unless you count Nyssa which we just saw as a person. Which kinda ruins it. Hey, look, a butterfly!"

"Not quite." Will pulled two small bottles of white liquid out of his backpack and handed them to Alexis and Bradley. "Shake that up before you drink it."

Lena moved closer to the "butterfly", which was actually a fairy with shimmering, angular silver wings. Her jet-black hair was short and choppy, sticking straight up in some places, and there was an expression of confusion and mild annoyance on her beautiful face. She was relatively large for a fairy, about as tall as Lena's hand. Unlike most fairies' smooth, flawless skin, this fairy almost looked like she had scales. A thin, reptilian tail curled between her legs.

"Whoa, person butterfly!" Alexis exclaimed, lowering the bottle of milk from her lips. "I mean, fairy. Duh. How come she looked like a butterfly at first? Is this milk, like, the only way people can see magic things? What's so special about this milk? Does it come from a magic cow or a different magical creature or something?"

"Not exactly what I expected a fairy to look like," Bradley stated. "Why does she have a tail?"

The fairy sneered at Alexis and Bradley, showing pointed teeth. Alexis yelped and drew back.

"It's okay, they're okay," Lena soothed, extending a gentle hand toward the fairy.

"I knew you seemed strange," the fairy replied, her voice sharp but rich. "I saw how bright you were, and followed you. And here you are, speaking in Silvian. The boy is strange as well."

"Which one?"

"The smaller one. The one without any weapons."

"You speak fairy language?" Alexis asked. "Cool. What'd she say?"

"Just that she noticed something weird about me," Lena explained. "And Bradley. It's probably because he's a dragon brother."

"I'm a what?" Bradley asked.

"He's a what?" Will exclaimed.

"Dragon brother," Lena replied. "I was kind of shocked too. Dragon brothers are basically just people who've been adopted by dragons—they can speak dragon language and stuff, and they're stronger and faster than normal people."

"Oooo," Alexis cooed, her gaze still on the odd fairy.

"You're not supposed to be here," the fairy said brusquely. "None of you. Only the boy."

"Bradley was the only one summoned," Lena admitted. "What's your name?"

The fairy narrowed her silver eyes. "Tirin."

"Nice to meet you, Tirin," Lena smiled. "Do you know the fastest way to the top of Moonfang?"

"Yes."

"Could you lead us there?"

Instead of answering, Tirin flew off the leaf she had been standing on and stopped at a nearby tree. She scratched something into the bark with her sharp, claw-like fingernails, and then flitted away to a different tree.

"It's an arrow," Bradley pointed out, inspecting the wooden scribble. Sure enough, a rough, triangular arrow pointing toward the taller of the two peaks looming over the sanctuary was scratched into the tree.

"Then that's what we need to follow," Will said. He adjusted his backpack and turned in the direction the arrow instructed.

XIXIXIX

Aisha picked up her knife and stared at the woman on the ground. She was completely unconscious, her blue hair spread around her head and her dress rumpled.

"Narcoblix," Aisha whispered. "Perhaps…"

Neglecting to finish the thought, Aisha sheathed her knife and turned away. Surmising that the woman was either an illusion or else a dangerous creature in disguise, she decided not to waste her energy.

A sudden flicker in the corner of her eye caught Aisha's attention. She whirled around to see what had caused the flash, her hand on the hilt of her knife, seeing nothing but the rocky, forested terrain of Wyrmroost.

"Who's there?" Aisha called, not really expecting an answer.

The flicker appeared again a few feet away, causing Aisha to spin in a circle to face it. Nothing. The woman remained motionless on the ground. After a few minutes passed without another flash, Aisha put away her knife and lifted her gaze to where she had last seen Lena and her party. She started toward the trees, determined to catch and destroy the shining princess.

XIXIXIX

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jen, it's Devon. Do you—"

"Oh, Devon, hi! How are you doing? How's your family?"

"I was about to ask the same question. Do you know where Alexis is?"

"She said she was spending the night at her friend Lena's house. I told her to be back by noon, but so far she's been running pretty late. Why?"

"Lena," Layla repeated. "That was the name that on the note."

"Is that Layla?" Jennifer Blaskenjoom asked over the phone. "Am I on speakerphone? Hi, Layla, how are you?"

"Could be better. Listen, do you know anything about Lena's parents?"

"Yes, I met them once. Bracken and Kendra Sorenson. I'm not sure what his parents were thinking, naming him after a weed, but I suppose it makes for a unique name. Incredibly nice people, but a bit strange. Almost everything they said seemed recited or nervous—why Lena's had to change schools so much, how they keep their garden so nice, what sort of product they use—they're both extremely youthful-looking, by appearance you would guess neither of them are over twenty-five. In fact, I thought Kendra could have been Lena's older sister when she opened the door—"

"Jen, could you—"

"—and strangest of all, just as I was leaving I saw Kendra talking to a butterfly, as if they were actually having a conversation. But I tried to overlook the oddity—they're really quite nice people."

"Jen, do you know their phone number?"

Jennifer recited the answer, which Devon relayed to Layla, who wrote the number down on a shopping list.

"Thanks, Jen, bye!"

"Wait, is that all you—"

Devon hung up the phone, cutting his sister off midsentence. He turned to Layla

"Jen's description has got magic written all over it," Layla pointed out. "They must be part of this."

Devon tore the little piece of paper on which Layla had written the phone number off the memo pad. "Get the girls in the car. We're taking a road trip."


	8. Abnormal Sizes

**Author's Note: My cousin and I were arguing about this a few days ago, so I decided to ask you guys—just out of curiosity: Do you think Aisha counts as one of those "creepy little girls" that are so popular in horror movies/books? Tell me what you think in a review :)**

Lena squeezed between the rocky walls, nearly having to hold her breath, and then finally exited the cleft. She looked up, squinting at the sun, which was slowly sinking from its midday high point and was now barely touching the tips of the mountain straight ahead.

"That's not Moonfang," she pointed out. "Why is Tirin leading us to the wrong mountain?"

Will, Bradley, and Alexis followed Lena's gaze up to the peaks. Sure enough, Tirin's most recent arrow, which she had somehow managed to scratch into the stone, was pointed toward the smaller of the two mountains.

"Maybe that's just a shortcut," Alexis surmised. "I remember one time my mom was taking me to school a different way than usual and I thought she was going the wrong way but really she was just taking a shortcut 'cus we were running late. So maybe it's just a shortcut."

"Well, this shortcut is taking us right into Thronis' domain," Will mentioned, pulling out his bow.

"Thronis?" Bradley asked.

"Sky giant," Lena answered concisely. "Controls the weather."

"We should be careful," Will warned. "He might get—"

"Attention, visitors!" interrupted an artificially magnified voice. "Lay down your weapons and please come quietly."

All four of them whirled around to see five eagle-like creatures standing in a neat formation. The creatures were taller than horses, with the heads, wings, and talons of eagles attached to the bodies of lions.

"Whoa! Griffins! That is sooo cool!" Alexis exclaimed.

Astride the front griffin sat a dwarf on a red saddle. He had bronze skin, black eyes, a stubbly beard, and he wore a dented iron helmet. The small man raised a megaphone made from furry black animal skin to his lips.

"Today is the day you were captured by a dwarf."

Lena stepped back. "What do you want?"

The dwarf cleared his throat and raised the megaphone back up to his lips. "You are now utterly at the mercy of Thronis and his minions. Lay down your weapons and you will not be harmed."

"Actually, I think I'll hold onto them," Will replied, pulling an arrow out of his quiver.

"Will, you might want to—" Lena cautioned quietly.

"The hard way it is, then," the dwarf announced nonchalantly. The griffins suddenly screeched and took to the air, one swooping down and grabbing Bradley by the shoulders. He shouted out as the griffin took him higher into the sky. Lena and Alexis screamed Bradley's name, but were cut off when another griffin grabbed Lena and Will seized the other girl's hand, pulling her toward the edge of the cliff.

"Wait, you're not really gonna—" Alexis started, her words dissolving into a scream as Will pulled something out of his backpack, wrapped his free arm around her waist, and leapt off the cliff.

XIXIXIX

Seth set down the empty bucket, pulled a bottle out of his pocket, and adjusted the cell phone on his shoulder. "So you're going off to rescue Lena and a bunch of her friends from Wyrmroost, and you expect me to stay here and babysit these two random kids?"

"They're not random," Kendra argued over the phone. "Apparently Devon and Layla used to be Knights, too."

One hand holding the phone and the other occupied with the small glass bottle, Seth pulled out the cork with his teeth and spit it a few feet away. "Sure, but seriously. You can't leave me out of a trip to Wyrmroost _again_. And I can't babysit because I have extra work to do around here."

"Why?"

"Hugo was playing football with the satyrs and they got a little too close to the pond. So I have to do his chores while he recuperates. Say hi, Viola."

The enormous milch cow mooed thunderously, out of annoyance more than greeting.

"Seth, you can't milk Viola."

"Relax, I've got a growth potion. Shouldn't be too hard. But anyway, can't they call someone to take care of their kids?"

"Please, Seth. Besides, if you're too busy to babysit, aren't you too busy to come to Wyrmroost?"

Viola bellowed, urging Seth to hurry up. Refusing to admit that his sister was right, Seth lifted the bottle of potion to his lips. "Sorry, but Viola's getting upset. Gotta take care of this. Talk to you later, bye!"

Seth hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket, not giving Kendra enough time to respond. He drank down the growth potion.

XIXIXIX

"It's okay, I've got you. You don't have to hold on so hard."

Alexis opened her eyes. Will still had his arm around her back, his other hand holding a small crossbow. His legs were extended, his feet braced against the cliff face to prevent them from smashing into the stony wall.

Will grinned. "Really, I've got you. You can let go."

Alexis realized that her arms were wrapped tightly around Will's neck. She let go self-consciously and looked up, seeing that they were dangling form a cord attached to an arrow Will had shot from his crossbow. The arrow was securely lodged in something on the top of the cliff, too far away for Alexis to see.

Will quickly tied the cord to his belt, pulled a weird little handlebar thing out of his backpack, and hooked it onto the cord, all with only one hand. Alexis watched silently, mesmerized.

"Okay, I'm gonna need both hands for this," Will told Alexis. "Hold on."

Alexis promptly obeyed, clinging to Will as he disconnected the cord from the crossbow, put the bow away, and untied the cord from his belt. Alexis winced, ready to fall.

Will chuckled softly. "Excitable, aren't you?"

Alexis looked up again. The little clippy thingy Will had hooked onto the cord was holding them in place as Will held onto the handlebars that extended from the device.

"What all do you have on that backpack?" Alexis asked in awe. "Cus you've pulled out matches and food and magic milk stuff and that little crossbow and now this cool device thing. Where'd you get all this stuff? Did it take you a long time to pack it all in there? How does all that stuff even fit in that little backpack? Is it—"

Alexis was hushed by Will pressing his index finger against her lips. Staring into his eyes, she suddenly realized that hazel was a really gorgeous color.

"There's all kinds of predators around here, plus those griffins might still be looking for us," Will whispered, taking his finger off Alexis' lips. "We might wanna be quiet."

Alexis nodded. Will held on to the handlebars on his device, flipped a small lever with his thumb, and they slowly began to descend down the side of the cliff.

XIXIXIX

Newel and Doren were confused.

Seth had promised them complete access to the house, his laptop, and his Netflix account in return for watching a pair of toddlers while he went to Wyrmroost to rescue his niece. However, Seth had also warned them not to watch movies the whole time he was gone.

"You're giving us the ability to watch whatever we want, _when_ever we want, and you expect us not to use it?" Doren argued.

"You can use it, but not so much that you're not watching the kids, too," Seth replied as one of the little girls climbed up onto the kitchen table and started to dance to her sister singing the alphabet—leaving out about half of the letters.

"It'll be easy," Seth assured, seeing the satyrs' lost-looking faces. "Just keep them in the house, let them play with the toys in the attic, and give them something from the fridge every now and then. The rest of the time you can spend watching as much TV and movies as you want."

"And what about the, ah…" Newel started, gesturing toward his hindquarters and pinching his nose to pantomime the point he was trying to address.

Both satyrs paled as Seth hefted a canvas bag of baby wipes and princess Pull-Ups onto the table.

"Figure it out," Seth said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket and walking toward the door. "I gotta catch up to Kendra before they get through the gate without me."

"Seep!" cried the little girl on the table, pointing a tiny finger at Newel.

"Sheep?" Doren translated, offended.

"Goat!" Newel corrected. "A four-year-old could tell that difference."

"Yeah, well," Seth shrugged, halfway out the door. "They're three. Give them some milk if you want."

Seth closed the door. Doren snatched Seth's laptop from the table and the satyrs raced toward the couch, ignoring the fact that now both little girls were dancing on the table. When they opened up Netflix, they both stared in shock for a moment at what they saw on the screen before they forlornly cried out in unison.

"He changed the password!"


	9. The Giant's Manor

**Author's Note: Everybody gonna be watching the meteor shower Sunday night? ;)**

Alexis cautiously let go of Will and the cord and fell a foot or two onto a rocky ledge, Will close behind her.

"So are we gonna go rescue them?" Alexis whispered, careful not to attract any predators. "Do you know where this giant dude lives? We could like break in there with a bunch of your weapons and stuff and tell the giant that if he doesn't let our friends go, we'll blow him up or something. We won't really blow him up though, we could just have a cookie or something and tell him it's a self-destruct button that we attached to his house or something. Speaking of cookies, do you have any in that backpack? Cus I'm starving. Even though we just ate like a little bit ago but it feels like it's been forever."

Will smiled. "You never do stop, do you?"

Alexis covered her mouth self-consciously. Will tugged on the cord, which was still attached to the arrow he had shot. It didn't come loose.

"Must be stuck in there pretty good," Will stated, releasing the cord and letting it fall against the cliff face. "Now, what were you saying about blowing Thronis up?"

"Not for real," Alexis clarified. "We could just threaten him that we'll blow up his house with a fake self-destruct button unless he lets Bradley and Lena go. And then we'll leave before he realizes that the self-destruct button is actually just a cookie."

Will grinned. "I like your style. But there's no way we could even get up the mountain, much less into his manor."

"Ooh, it's a manor," Alexis smiled. "Fancy. Wait, what do you mean, there's no way up? We've gotta find some way to save them! Come on, magic backpack with everything in it! Isn't there any climbing stuff or anything in there?"

"Equipment's not the problem, it's the mountain. It's impossible to scale without wings."

Alexis frowned and crossed her arms, her expression of discouragement suddenly turning to surprise and worry as a bit of movement behind Will caught her attention. "The rope's flying away!"

Will whirled around. Sure enough, the cord was snaking up the side of the cliff, as if whatever it had lodged itself in was trying to escape. Both of them jumped to grab it, Will succeeding and Alexis having to settle for Will's shoe as the cord lifted them into the air.

Alexis screamed and looked down at the faraway ground, holding as tightly as she could with both hands to Will's ankle.

"Don't let go!" Alexis shouted.

"Wasn't planning on it!" Will replied.

_Crieeeeee!_ something wailed above them.

Alexis and Will both looked up. A lone griffin flew above them, left behind from the ones that had attacked them, spastically shrieking and flapping its wings. Its front left leg was immobile, unlike the rest of its body. Alexis squinted and realized that the nonmoving leg was impaled with an arrow, from which the cord they were hanging on dangled.

"You shot the griffin!" Alexis pointed out.

Will stared at the injured griffin. "Whoops."

Alexis reached up with one hand and grabbed Will's knee, trying to climb toward the griffin. "Hold on, maybe I can get up there. I went to a horse-training camp once, and it's kinda the same right? Maybe I can get it to—"

"Ay!" Will exclaimed suddenly. "I know it's kind of hard to resist, but could you watch where you're climbing there?"

"Sorry!" Alexis apologized hurriedly, moving her hand over to Will's belt. "Could you put your knee up so I have a foothold place thingy? I have like almost no upper body strength so I kinda need—oh, thanks. Okay—sorry! Ack! Sorry! Umm, let me just take my shoes off so it doesn't hurt your shoulders or anything—oh wait—crap…"

Alexis held tightly to the cord, watching her doodled-on tennis shoes fall to the rocky ground what seemed like a thousand feet below.

"Don't worry about it, just keep going," Will reassured, shrugging his shoulder to encourage Alexis to continue. Alexis cautiously lifted her sock-clad foot off of Will's shoulder and onto his head, keeping her eyes on the wounded griffin above her.

"This is just like the rope climb in gym class!" Alexis called down to Will, holding tightly to the cord.

"And you're good at that?" Will replied.

Alexis bit her lip. "More or less."

_Raieeeeeeeee! _cried the griffin. Alexis yelped as the cord was suddenly tossed to one side, flung around by the pained creature.

"Hold still! Let me help you!" Alexis shouted, trying to calm the griffin. "Chill out!"

"Hold on, I'm coming up," Will called, beginning to climb up after Alexis, who had almost made it high enough to touch the griffin's wounded leg.

"I'm almost there!" Alexis cried back. She ducked to avoid a panicked swipe from one of the griffin's talons, reached up, and grabbed a scaly, birdlike leg. Alexis let out a breath of relief and triumph and stretched her other arm to grasp a clump of the griffin's coarse brown fur. Careful not to hurt the griffin any more than it was already injured, she cautiously lifted herself onto its back, straddling it just in front of its feathered wings.

"I did it!" Alexis breathed, clinging to the griffin's neck. "Omigosh, I'm riding a griffin! Will, I did it!"

Will smiled. "Nice. Could you help me up?"

Alexis extended her hand to Will and struggled to pull him up onto the griffin's back. Eventually he managed to get up, and Alexis pulled the cord around the griffin's neck like reins.

"All right!" Alexis grinned. She gripped the cord in both hands and leaned into the griffin's feathery neck, turning slightly to the left in an attempt to steer the creature.

"Get it down to that ledge we were on," Will said, putting his hands on Alexis' shoulders. "I might be able to whip up to potion and try to help its leg."

Alexis pulled the cord to the left and rode the griffin down to the ledge, feeling awesomer than she ever could have imagined.

XIXIXIX

Bradley marveled at the sparsely furnished but enormous room before him and the colossal man that stood in it, his back temporarily turned to them.

"Your parents came here once, right?" Bradley whispered to Lena. "They give you any tips on how to deal with this guy?"

"My uncle met him," Lena whispered back. "He said—"

"He did, indeed," the giant interrupted, startling Bradley and turning around. "Young Seth Sorenson. You two are not much older than he was when I met him, though you lack the elder companions that he had. I take it that you did not inherit any of his shadow charming, Lena?"

Lena shook her head. "No. How do you know my name?"

"In a neighboring chamber, I have two crystal orbs," Thronis explained. "One is for adjusting the weather , and the other I use to see much of Wyrmroost and the rest of the world. When rumor began going about that Celebrant was sending his smallest son to collect a young dragon brother and bring him to the sanctuary, I became curious and looked into it. Sure enough, here you are. I understand there was a third accompanying you?"

"And a fourth," Lena said. "But they…aren't here."

Bradley swallowed, remembering Alexis' scream as Will had pulled her over the edge of the cliff. There was no way either of them could have survived the fall.

Thronis narrowed his eyes and settled into a massive chair behind him. "I see. Now, I have a question for you. You are traveling to Celebrant's roost atop Moonfang, correct?"

Lena and Bradley glanced at each other, then nodded.

"And are you aware that Moonfang is the other of the two peaks of Wyrmroost?"

"We were following a fairy," Bradley excused. "She told us she knew the quickest way to Celebrant. What did she say her name was?"

"Tirin," Lena reminded him.

Thronis raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Tirin the fairy, you should know, is rather well-known around Wyrmroost—and not just because she is likely the only fairy to live here. She is fickle and arrogant, like most fairies, but she also has some dragon in her, making her vicious, irascible, and restlessly pitiless. Many know not to make contact with her, much less let her lead them through dangerous areas."

Bradley glanced at Lena worriedly. Her wide, silvery blue eyes turned to him in fear.

"So here is my question," Thronis continued. "Familial connections and previous appointments aside, what is to stop me from baking both of you naïve trespassers, probably trailing danger to my safety and comfort in your wake, into a little pie? 'Little' being relative, of course."


	10. Abrey Kent

The man at the counter looked up from his game of Fruit Ninja on his iPod Touch when Devon and Layla entered the store, ringing a small bell above the door. He was heavyset with a small ponytail, a goatee, and a blue apron over a stained maroon t-shirt. His name tag read JIM. Layla was talking to Kendra over the phone as they walked in.

"Let's hope it's the right one," Layla said into her phone. "We'll see you there."

"Hi," Devon greeted the man as Layla hung up and put her phone in her pocket. "We're looking for three kids, two girls and a boy, that we think might have been at your store. They would have been here today or yesterday."

"What, your kid run away?" Jim asked.

"Something like that," Layla sighed.

"Our son," Devon clarified. "Bradley. He's fourteen year old, about five-foot-five with reddish-brown hair, sort of scruffy and spiky, and he usually wears this gray hoodie sweatshirt—"

"Haha! Six fruit combo!" Jim laughed triumphantly. Suddenly he looked up and noticed Devon and Layla staring at him disdainfully. He shoved his iPod in his back pocket.

"I didn't see any kids like that," Jim shrugged. "They might've been here during Kent's shift."

"Who's Kent?" Layla asked.

Jim turned away. "Kent!" he hollered behind him.

"Barlow!" came a female voice.

"Get out here!"

A door behind the counter opened and a woman in her mid-twenties walked out. Her long black hair was in a low ponytail and she was wearing a black tank top and skinny jeans under a blue apron that matched the one Jim had. She had three earrings in one ear and two in the other.

"What?" Kent asked, her tone and posture expressing annoyance and apathy.

Jim gestured toward Devon and Layla. "They wanna know if their kid was here yesterday or today."

"And our niece and her friend," Layla added. "Bradley, Alexis, and Lena. Bradley's got—"

"Yeah, yeah," Kent interrupted. "Reddish-brown hair, gray hoodie. And Alexis has brown hair just past her shoulders, brown eyes, a pimple by her right eyebrow, gray-and-pink tennis shoes with green and purple scribbles on them, and she talks way too much."

Layla blinked. "Yeah."

"She's just weird like that," Jim explained. "Notices everything. Freaky memory."

"They were here yesterday at 5:37 PM," Kent continued. "And the friend. They came in through that door, stood and talked for four seconds, and then Bradley came up and asked where the bathroom was. I pointed right over there, he thanked me, and walked quickly toward it. Then Alexis told Lena that Bradley was allergic to—"

"They know what their own kid's allergic to," Jim interrupted. "Give 'em the condensed version."

Kent rolled her eyes. "They got snacks, used the bathroom, and left. The end."

"Did you hear anything about where they were going?" Devon asked.

Kent narrowed her eyes. "Depends. What does a viviblix do?"

Layla crossed her arms across her chest. "They can reanimate and control the dead."

"Oh, great, you're part of _her _world," Jim complained, retreating through the door behind the counter. "Holler if you wanna buy something."

"My name's not really Kent," she said. "Barlow and I just call each other by our last names. I'm Abrey. Like Aubrey without the U." Abrey put her hand on the counter and used the leverage of it to push herself up over the side, so she was sitting on the edge facing Devon and Layla. She glanced from one to the other, as if deciding whether or not to reveal the location of their son.

Finally she exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. "Your kid's going to Wyrmroost. But I get the feeling you already knew that."

Layla's heart sank as her fears were confirmed. She swallowed. "Did you hear why?"

Abrey shook her head. "They talked about being summoned, but they don't know what for."

Devon took Layla's hand. "Thank you so much." They began to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute," Abrey said, jumping down from the counter. "You think you're just gonna go off to a forbidden dragon sanctuary, jus the two of you?"

"Well, not exactly," Devon said. "The other—"

"The other girl's parents are coming too," Abrey cut in. "I heard you on the phone with them when you came in. So that's four of you. Not enough to take on Wyrmroost." She took off her apron and tossed it onto the counter. "Barlow, cover my shift." Abrey looked at Devon and Layla and grinned. "We're going on a rescue mission."

XIXIXIX

"Shadowcharmer321!" Doren suggested.

Newel typed in Doren's guess. It was wrong.

"No," Newel sighed. "I give up. We've already tried twenty different passwords." He closed the laptop.

A little girl with short blonde hair stood smiling before him. He suddenly leaned back, startled, and almost dropped the laptop. He fumbled with it for a bit before finally lifting it back up onto his furry lap.

"I thirsty," the girl declared.

"Which one are you?" Newel asked. "Owla? Or Dain?"

"Short hair, short name," Doren reminded him. "Ella has longer hair."

"Ella? She said 'Owla'."

"That's because she's three years old and can't speak right yet. And she's Jane, not Dain."

"Same thing."

"I _thirsty," _Jane repeated.

Ella ran up beside her sister, bouncing up and down. "Me too! Me too! I want milk."

"Then get milk," Newel said, as if it was an obvious solution.

Doren rolled his eyes and opened the fridge. "You know, if you watched more sitcoms, you'd know how to work with children."

Newel scowled. "Who has time for sitcoms when there's so many sports channels and action movies?"

"I want a pink cup!" Jane shouted, running to the kitchen table, where Doren was pouring milk into a pair of small cups for the twins. Both girls hurriedly jumped onto chairs and drank it down.

"Hey!" Ella exclaimed when she put down her cup, pointing a tiny finger at Newel. "You not a seep!"

Newel looked up and glanced at the jug in Doren's hand. "Which milk is that?"

"You a person!" Jane announced

"And seep feet," Ella added.

Doren frowned and looked at the girls' empty cups. "Oops."

XIXIXIX

Layla glanced nervously at the young woman lounging sprawled across the backseat. Abrey had insisted that she was calling backup for the expedition, but at the moment it sounded like she was just a teenager catching up with an old friend.

"Come on, Jenny.…but that's your name….I can call you Jenny if I wanna call you Jenny. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny! …Stop changing the subject….It's not my fault she's psycho."

"Is she for real?" Devon asked jokingly. Layla half-smiled.

"Dude, that's awesome," Abrey laughed. "Yeah….Okay, but don't steal it. Mom and Dad are cops, you know." She suddenly guffawed. "Yeah, right! They'll kill you!...Wow, way to be pessimistic….I know, but still…hold on."

Abrey jumped up and stretched herself between the two front seats, pointing toward a green sign with her rainbow iPhone. "Take that exit. My brother's gonna meet us there with his helicopter." She put the phone back up to her ear, not bothering to get back in the backseat. "Isn't that right, Jenny?...Jennyyyy! Your name is Jenny!...No, just be there with the choppa….I don't know. Britishness is cool….Of course not, why would that be a word?"

Layla sighed and rubbed her temple like she had a headache. Devon shook his head and took the exit.


	11. Rescue

Alexis stroked the griffin's feathered head. "It's okay, he's just trying to help. Hold still."

The griffin let out a small screech, but then relaxed. Will pulled the strip of cloth around the griffin's wounded leg tight and tied it off, cutting the extra bits of fabric off with his pocketknife.

"There," Will said, putting his knife back onto his belt. "Good as new."

Suddenly, the griffin leapt up over Will, knocking both of them over. Alexis yelped and fell backward. The griffin stood on top of Will for a split second before using him as a launch pad, flying up into the air. It was almost able to fly away, but Alexis had tied the cord around its neck to prevent it from escaping while Will bandaged its leg. The griffin shrieked and lurched backward when it reached the end of the cord.

"Omigosh, dude, are you okay?" Alexis exclaimed, running over to Will. He was shakily sitting up, his left hand over a gash across his stomach that the griffin had made with its sharp talons when it jumped on him.

"Nah, I'm fine," Will said dismissively. "It's fate. My dad came here once, and he spent the whole time in a magical knapsack recovering from being gored by a deer. Don't tell him I said that."

"You're not fine, that's, like, bleeding all over the place," Alexis argued. She grabbed Will's backpack, which he had left on the ground a foot or two away after using a bandage from it to help the griffin. Alexis pulled out the roll of cloth.

"Take your shirt off," Alexis instructed. Will raised an eyebrow, causing Alexis to blush.

"Not like that," she clarified. "Just so I can get to the scratch."

Will obeyed and removed his shirt, which was torn and covered with blood. Alexis tried to ignore the fact that he looked really hot with his shirt off and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

"Hold that over the scratch," she ordered, handing one end of the roll of bandages to Will. "I took first-aid classes at camp. Well, they weren't actually technically classes, but I learned how to do this stuff to certify for the thing but it's funny cus when I learned it we were all like 'Yeah sure but we never do anything dangerous we're never gonna use this' but it turns out I _was _gonna do that so it's a good thing I paid attention. Okay, make sure you keep pressure on that. And…done! You can put your shirt back on now. I mean, if you want to. I don't mind if you don't. I mean, that's not what I mean. I mean—"

Suddenly, the griffin flew back over and butted its head into Alexis' arm, as if to say _Don't forget about me!_

"Hi, there," Alexis smiled. She reached up and scratched the griffin's head, right between the ears. "You've got some red feathers in there. That's cool."

The griffin let out a pleased screech.

"Well, I guess we're even now," Will stated, grabbing his shirt and managing to get to his feet. "I shot him in the leg, he slashed me across the chest. Both, presumably, on accident."

"He needs a name," Alexis declared. "What should we call him? Probably something that has to do with his red feathers. Cus that's like his unique thing. All the other griffins are just like brown. What are some synonyms for red?"

"Bloody," Will deadpanned. "Sanguine."

"Well, you're no fun," Alexis frowned. "Then again, you did just get slashed across the chest and are in a lot of pain and stuff. So I can tell why you're in a gory mood. But seriously, what should we call him?"

Will pulled his head through the neckhole of his shirt and grabbed his vest. "I don't know. But it doesn't really matter, because he's given me an idea on how to save Lena and Bradley."

XIXIXIX

"And you don't want to make Celebrant mad," Lena continued.

"He's probably wanting to see me for something important," Bradley added. "And he's the mega dragon king of everything. So you really want to stay on his good side."

"All excellent points," Thronis admitted. "It is true that when I met your uncle, Lena, I told him and his party of adventurers that, arrayed in full battle gear, I could prevail against any dragon in battle save Celebrant. However, that was nearly a quarter of a century ago, and even an old giant like me has some room to grow and to learn. Celebrant may not be a threat to me any longer."

"Is he bluffing?" Bradley whispered to Lena. "I can't tell if he's bluffing."

"He can't bluff," Lena replied. "That silver collar around his neck will strangle him if he ever tells a lie."

"And I suppose that it is in my favor that rumor of my curse is so widespread," Thronis said casually. "It saves me the trouble of explaining the embarrassment myself. Now, since your argument is now invalid, why else should I spare your lives?"

"Um…" Lena started.

Suddenly there was a rhythmic knocking on the huge wooden door behind them, interrupted halfway through by an agitated voice.

"You cannot disturb his Magnificence while—"

"That's Thronis, right? Is he here? Can we talk to him? Cus he attacked us a little bit ago, well duh, you already know that, you were there, but we have his griffin so we were kind of hoping we could like give him his griffin back so he can give us our friends back cus you guys flew away with them so can we like talk to him and negotiate a trade or something?"

Thronis rose. "It appears your rescuers have arrived. Come."

Bradley and Lena shared an excited glance, then scampered to keep up with the giant's enormous strides as he opened the door.

Alexis and Will stood there talking to the dwarf who had led the griffins earlier, looking worse than the last time Bradley had Lena had seen them but much better than they had been expecting. Will's shirt was torn and bloody, and Alexis was missing her shoes. A griffin with a bandaged front leg and some red feathers mixed in with its golden brown stood beside them.

"Lena! Bradley!" Alexis exclaimed when she saw them, running over to attack them with an overexcited hug. "I'm so glad you're okay and haven't been eaten yet!"

"And we're so glad you didn't fall to your deaths after jumping off a cliff," Lena replied, shooting a glance at Will, who shrugged as if to say _What did I do?_

Alexis pulled away and looked up at Thronis. "Whoa. That dude's big."

"The biggest," Thronis said, smiling slightly. "Now, what was I hearing about negotiating a trade?"

"We'll return your griffin in exchange for Lena and Bradley's safety," Will said calmly.

The griffin squawked and butted its head against Alexis' arm. She scratched the griffin's head. "And I think he likes me. So don't get any ideas about like capturing us and eating us too and just taking him anyway. Because I don't think he'd like that."

"No, never," Thronis responded. "You propose a wise decision. Very well, young heroes, I accept your trade. In fact, I will have the rest of my griffins fly you down the mountain, as long as you promise never to stray into the shadow of my domain again."

"We promise," all four of them pledged in unison.

"Then off you go," Thronis said. "Zogo, send them down."

The dwarf hurried around a corner and returned a moment later holding a four cords in one hand, each cord connected to a harness around the neck of a griffin. He directed one griffin toward Lena, and the griffin picked her up by her shoulders and began to descend. The same then happened to Alexis and Will.

"You have good friends, Bradley Hutchinson," Thronis stated. "Those are essential. Let us hope they will be able to assist you similarly where you are headed. The worth of a man is often measured by his friends. Remember that. It may save your life."

Bradley nodded, a bit confused, as the fourth griffin flew toward him. "Thanks."

And with that, he was headed toward the base of the peak.

"It's good to have you back, Ariel," Will said once they were all on the ground, clapping a hand onto Lena's shoulder.

Lena picked up Will's hand and moved it off her shoulder. "Ariel?"

"Yeah, you know," he tried to explain. "Lena, naiad. Mermaid. Ariel."

"Aha. Clever."

"Did anyone else notice that that was like way too easy?" Alexis worried. "I mean, we went up, we talked to him, and he let us go. Shouldn't he have like tried to stop us or something, or at least try to argue or bump up the pay?"

"It wasn't that easy," Will reminded her, pointing to his bandages. "But yeah, I get what you're thinking."

"He said he hoped you guys would help me where I'm going," Bradley said. "That it might save my life—like meeting Celebrant is going to be dangerous."

Lena touched Bradley's hand. "Don't worry about it. We're with you each step of the way."

"Even when we're not technically stepping," Alexis grinned. She rested her elbow on his shoulder affectionately.

"Which we should be doing right now," Will urged, shouldering his backpack. "Let's go. With any luck, we'll reach Celebrant before sundown."


	12. A Deal and a Flicker

Lena scowled when she saw that there was another arrow scratched into the dirt, pointed toward Moonfang. She kicked the ground, erasing the arrow.

"Who does she think she is?" Lena asked bitterly.

"Who?" Bradley inquired.

"Tirin. She deliberately led us into Thronis's territory and almost got us killed, and then she thinks she can just put another arrow pointing somewhere else and get us in even more trouble."

"Wait, she did that on purpose?" Alexis said. "Evil! Why do the coolest magic people creature dudes have to be evil?"

There was a sudden irritated hiss. They all turned to see Tirin perched on a nearby boulder, slightly crouched.

"Not evil, just _bored_," Tirin snarled. "Humans don't come along very often. And they shouldn't. I was just trying to clean up you pests." She wrinkled her short nose and stuck out a forked tongue, looked down at Will, and then smirked. "At least it looks like I nearly succeeded.

Will's hand went self-consciously to the bandages around his middle. "Look, we're not trying to cause any trouble."

"Celebrant summoned us," Bradley explained.

Tirin jumped off the boulder and flitted to a tree. She stuck the claws on her toes into the bark to keep herself up and used the claws on her fingers to scratch out another arrow. "Then you'd best not keep him waiting." She flew off, her metallic wings humming rapidly.

"Why should we trust you?" Lena asked. "You almost got us killed."

Tirin stopped in midair and turned around. "Let's just say I made a deal with someone who has…reasons to see one of you. Before sunrise tomorrow, the small boy will meet the dragon king."

"You made a deal?" Alexis repeated. "Who with? And why do they want to see us? The way you're saying it, it doesn't sound good. What are you trading it for? Did you like promise to get us there in return for them letting you kill us? Cus that would not be good."

"Who would make a deal like that?" Will said skeptically.

"No one," Tirin sneered. "That's not the deal. The deal I _did _make is none of your concern." She looked each of them in the eye one at a time. Her voice lowered. "But you are half right. Before tomorrow morning, all four of you will be dead, and I will have had nothing to do with it."

She flew away. Lena glanced at the arrow Tirin had carved into the tree.

"Should we follow her?" Lena asked.

Will pulled out his bow, ready for any sign of danger. "Do we have a choice?"

"It doesn't matter anyway. We're almost there," Bradley said. He started in the direction Tirin had flown off in.

Suddenly, a tiny flash of light caught Lena's attention. She turned around and then, seeing nothing, shrugged and followed Bradley.

XIXIXIX

"Burgess is a much better last name than Blaskenjoom, don't you think?"

Lena smiled and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you like that creep."

"He's hot!" Alexis argued. "And he's an archer. Archery's cool."

"Whatever. I think he can hear you."

Alexis paled as she glanced at Will. He was stepping over a large rock a few feet in front of them, talking to Bradley.

"Why do you say he's a creep?" Alexis asked.

Lena pushed a tree branch out of her way. "No reason. He was trying to flirt with me earlier."

"No!"

"Don't worry, he's all yours. I told him I'm taken."

"By who? Bradley?"

Lena jumped off a little ledge onto the dirty ground. "Something like that."

Will stopped, causing Lena, Bradley, and Alexis to all bump into each other. He winced slightly, his hand going to the wounds across his belly, then straightened and lifted his bow.

"What's the matter?" Bradley asked. "Did we lose Tirin's trail?"

Instead of answering, Will cautiously nocked an arrow. Nobody spoke.

Lena looked around, listening for the sound of any approaching danger. There was none.

Suddenly there was a small flicker of light in front of them, exactly like the one Lena had seen earlier, just barely noticeable. Lena gasped. Will fired his arrow directly toward the flicker, which had immediately disappeared.

Expecting the arrow to fly and then fall, hitting nothing, Lena was shocked when it stopped in midair. The arrow broke into splinters, the arrowhead shattering, as if it was being chewed up in an invisible mouth. Alexis started to scream, but was silenced by Will clapping a hand over her mouth.

_Don't make a sound, _Will mouthed silently, gently pulling Alexis as he slowly stepped backward. Bradley and Lena followed, careful not to step on any twigs or dry leaves. The flicker reappeared, staying still long enough for Lena to see it as an ice-colored eye before it flashed out of sight.

Will took his hand off of Alexis' mouth and put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be silent. He took one more step back and gingerly pulled another arrow from his quiver, making sure it didn't clack against any of the others. Lena held her breath as Will loaded his bow, aiming directly at the spot where he had last seen the flicker.

The eyes flashed into view a few feet away, and in that split second Will redirected his bow and fired directly at the flash.

"Run!" Will shouted, grabbing Alexis by the hand and jumping off the rock they were standing on. Lena followed with a slight yelp.

"Bradley, come on!" Lena called. Bradley stood frozen, staring at the arrow Will had shot. It was lodged in a seemingly dismembered silver eye several dozen feet above the ground. Lena jumped up to grab Bradley and pull him to safety, but soon found herself paralyzed as well.

"Don't look at the eye!" Will yelled as Alexis screamed Bradley's name.

Lena fought to close her eyes. The floating arrow lowered a bit, and Lena felt a cold, wet, scaly something against her front. It went around her body, in constant motion, finally flicking off her face. The eye moved back up.

_Oh gosh, it licked me, _Lena realized. Suddenly her paralysis was weakened, and she found herself able to close her eyes. She reached for Bradley's hand and gripped it tight, remembering stories of when her mother came to Wyrmroost.

"Leave us alone," Lena squeaked. "We don't want any trouble." She winced mentally at the fear in her voice.

The eye did not answer.

XIXIXIX

Bradley stared at the floating disembodied eye, which was leaking a creamy fluid from where the arrow had pierced it.

"So this is the great Bradley Hutchinson," said a low, rasping male voice. "I expected a man more foreboding than this scrawny rat, given the identity of your father."

Unable to move his lips or even think straight, Bradley said nothing.

"Not only do you stand in shock and fear before an old, blind thing, but it would seem that the bravest in your company is a little girl, younger than you are," the voice pointed out. Bradley was vaguely aware of Lena's hand around his and her voice trying to shout at the dead eye.

"It has been so long since I have allowed a human, or anything for that matter, to hear my voice. I had nearly forgotten how unpleasant it is to speak. Fortunately, I will not have to do so for much longer."

Suddenly, another arrow flew, and another dead eye appeared where the arrow stopped. Bradley was instantly able to move.

"Run!" Will cried. "Bradley, you've gotta get out of here! Run!"

"Wait, I can't leave you guys!"

Another of Will's arrows bounced off invisible scales. Lena pushed Bradley away from the pierced eyes and towards the base of the mountain. "Run, Bradley. You have to make it to Celebrant. We don't. Go!"

"You'll get killed!"

Lena unzipped her sweatshirt and pulled out her horn, gripping it like a sword. "Like I said—we don't have to make it. Now go! Run!"

"But—"

"_Run!"_

Lena began stabbing blindly at her invisible foe. Will was firing arrows seemingly willy-nilly, occasionally sticking into flesh or scales that turned visible when punctured, but usually just bouncing off of missing. Alexis was scurrying around, throwing rocks and sticks in the general direction of the floating eyes.

"_Run, Bradley!" _Lena ordered one last time.

Bradley took a final look at his friends fighting an impossible enemy, then turned and sprinted toward his destination.


	13. Safe and Sound

**Author's Note: The title of this chapter is based on the Taylor Swift song of the same name. If you don't know it, you should really listen to it, because it's a great song. If you do know it, try to think about it at the end of this chapter.**

Lena pressed her back against the rock and tried to quiet her heavy breathing. She was bleeding from multiple small wounds, and so were Will and Alexis. The dragon stood a few feet away from them, still mostly invisible but with enough of it showing to discern its rough location. They had stopped fighting for a few moments, hiding from the blind creature.

"Well, this is quite an unusual dragon," Will whispered, barely audible. "Know anything about this one, Aquamarine?"

"Okay, seriously, one more naiad/mermaid joke, and I'll kick you in the face," Lena quipped, but then she calmed. "It's Nemus. One of the oldest dragons around, and one of the most dangerous too. His breath weapon is some sort of gas that makes things just cease to exist, not even a skeleton left."

Will exhaled slowly and swallowed, "I've got an idea. I think I know how I can kill it. But it won't have an entirely happy ending for us."

"What are you talking about?" Alexis susurrated back. "What do you mean, it won't be a happy ending?"

"These are tipped with dragonsbane." Will pulled out three arrows. "Stay here and don't make a sound," Will ordered. He looked Lena in the eye solemnly and lifted his bow. "I guess it's really not meant to be."

Lena shook her head, guessing Will's plan.

"Alexis?" Will turned to her. "Have a good life, kid."

Alexis' eyes widened. She started to protest, but was shushed immediately by Will's finger on her lips.

_No sound, _he mouthed, standing up and loading his bow with the arrows. "Stay back and don't stick around very long afterwards."

"But you can't," Alexis whispered.

Will took off his backpack and gave it to Alexis, turning around to face Nemus without another word. He stepped toward the invisible dragon.

"I'm glad I ran away," Will muttered to himself. "I'm not gonna miss them."

The two pierced eyes began to move toward Will.

"I'm not much use in this shape. I can't hold out much longer anyway."

He pulled the three arrows back to his cheek.

"I'm not gonna die in a hospital getting treated for a scratch. I'm gonna take you down with me. I'm gonna die on my feet, my bow in my hand, and my friends getting away because of it. Besides, she wants to kick me in the face."

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head. Will swallowed hard in an attempt to calm his nerves. The world seemed to slow down as the dragon's eyes lowered toward him.

"You wanna eat me?"

Will felt the tension in the string and got ready to release it.

"Well, bon appetit."

He fired, and the invisible jaws closed around him.

XIXIXIX

Bradley ran as fast as he could, weaving through trees and leaping over boulders, stumbling several times but always managing to get back up. He could just barely hear an occasional scream far behind him, nearly making him turn back to save his friends.

Before he knew it, Bradley was at the base of the peak. He looked around for a handhold, scrambled over a few larger rocks, and then began to climb. But after a few moments, he found himself on a steep incline with no way up.

"Come on!" Bradley shouted angrily, kicking the slope. "I didn't come all this way just to get stuck on a mountain!"

"Why else would you do it?" asked a sudden new voice.

Bradley turned, startled, and saw a familiar blue-and-purple dragon, its head alone larger than a car and its imperious eyes staring into his.

"Being stuck at the base is a much more favorable fate than the one that awaits you at the top," the dragon hummed in a feminine voice.

Oddly, Bradley did not feel any of the paralyzing fear that the other dragon had captured him with. He stared the dragon in the eye, too angry at the futile mountain to be afraid of this new threat.

"I need to get up there," Bradley replied flatly. "I was summoned."

"So I heard," the dragon responded. "But the journey up is quite unpleasant. Would you rather I just devour you now? I promise to be gentle. It'll be quick. Less hassle, less drama."

"Leave me alone, Nafia."

"So you do remember my name! You seem so casual. Perhaps you don't think I'm serious about killing you."

Bradley figured he knew where the conversation was going. He turned around and leapt off the boulder he had been standing on, breaking into a run as soon as he hit the ground. However, he was not fast enough, and Nafia's enormous claw clipped him across the shoulder, sending him sprawling and causing blood to flow. Bradley squeezed his eyes shut.

"L-leave me alone!" he tried.

Nafia paused. "Was that a stutter? Ah, how I missed that stutter. Pity I'll only hear it once."

Bradley bit his lip and braced himself for the snap of Nafia's jaws to end his life.

"Nafia!" cried a familiar voice.

Bradley opened one eye. The large blue dragon was backing off, contempt in her expression. He turned his head to see Raxtus facing Nafia, looking tiny compared to the other dragon.

"Well, well, here comes the cavalry," Nafia said mockingly. "Come to steal away my snack? Don't be so cruel as to deny me this novelty."

"He's not your snack," Raxtus replied. "Leave him alone."

Nafia began to turn away. "Brave little butterfly. Or perhaps merely more afraid of another, more frightening foe than of me. Yes, that's it, isn't it? Too cowardly to deny him, so you deliver a tiny human child to its doom."

Raxtus hesitated. "Don't be stupid. There's nothing up there that would harm him under Celebrant's protection."

Nafia glanced at Bradley, who was slowly standing up and backing towards Raxtus. "You're a dragon brother, aren't you, boy?" she said. "You know the dragon language. In fact, I think you're more dragon than that shell full of pixie dust beside you."

Bradley looked at Raxtus. "Yeah, I-I'm…Lena said I was a dragon brother."

"Mm, another stutter. I suppose I'll wait to speak to your ridiculous protector until he returns from this expedition." Nafia spread her enormous blue wings. "You're fortunate to have such a formidable father, Raxtus. If not for him, you would have been killed for sport before you reached adolescence. Farewell." She turned and flew into the air, soon disappearing out of sight over the disappearing horizon.

"Thanks," Bradley breathed, brushing the dirt off his jeans. "Why was she being so hard on you? It can't be just because you're small."

"Small's the least of it," Raxtus said. "But the rest of my sob story's for later." He lay on the ground and let Bradley sit beside him. "Get some sleep, it's getting dark. I'll fly you up the mountain in the morning."

Exhausted, shaken, and worried, Bradley lay on the ground beside Raxtus and obeyed.

XIXIXIX

Lena put her hand over her mouth in shock. She could see all of Nemus clearly, lying dead on the ground. His eyes were open, staring at nothing as they had done in life. Both were pierced with arrows.

"Will?" Alexis asked. Her voice was soft and shaky. "Oh my gosh, where'd Will go? Where is he?"

Lena stared at the dragon's body. Will was nowhere to be seen.

"The dragon must've fell on top of him!" Alexis exclaimed. "We have to get him off!"

"Alexis, I don't think…" Lena started, unable to complete the fact that she herself couldn't quite accept.

Alexis pushed at Nemus' massive head, succeeding only causing it to roll an inch or two and then return to its original spot.

"Come on, we have to help him!" Alexis cried, tears beginning to flow. "We have to get it off him! We have to help him!"

"He's gone, Alexis," Lena said softly. "I think-"

"No he's not!" Alexis screamed, pushing the head with her shoulder. "He's not! He's just stuck under here! We have to help him! We have to get it off him!"

Lena tried to put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, but was shrugged off as Alexis pushed and punched the head, sobbing.

Alexis screamed, gave up, and crumpled into a crying heap, leaning against the dead dragon. Her hands were covered in blood, mostly from Nemus but some from where the dragon's scales had cut up her knuckles.

Lena sat next to her friend and put her arm around her. Alexis succumbed to Lena's efforts to comfort her and leaned into her shoulder.

"He saved us," Lena whispered, more to herself than to Alexis. A tear dropped from her eye. "He killed a dragon that nobody else could even dream of fighting. And Bradley got away safe."

Alexis sniffed and hiccupped like a small child. Lena wiped her cheek.

_Please don't die, Bradley, _Lena thought. _Get to Moonfang in one piece. Please be safe._


	14. Dark Night

"Mom?"

Theresa cracked open an eye at the sound of her daughter's voice.

"Mom, are you awake?"

Theresa closed her eyes. "Yeah. What?"

There was silence for a moment, then Abrey laid back down. "Nothing. Sorry to wake you."

Theresa rolled over and looked at Abrey's sleeping form. For the first time since she and Lucas split when Abrey was eleven, the whole family was together again—relatively speaking. How ironic that they probably wouldn't survive the first day of the family reunion.

Realizing that it was too late to go back to sleep, Theresa got up and walked into the bathroom of the hotel room they had rented. The room had two beds, one that she had claimed and the other Lucas took. Jenlauer had decided on the couch, and Abrey had to settle for the floor. The Hutchinsons, Bracken, and Kendra were in the adjacent room.

Theresa splashed some water on her face and dried off with the small white towel the hotel provided, considering the strangeness of all this. Apparently, the prince of the fairy kingdom and his wife had a daughter who, in some alternate timeline or something, was kidnapped along with a shadow charmer who was good but is evil now and a boy who's more than he might seem, but his parents won't tell her exactly what he is; and these kids met her and befriended her in this alternate timeline, then the shadow charmer almost caused the end of the world, but the other girl stopped her, reset the whole week, and nobody remembers.

And then these kids got summoned to a forbidden dragon sanctuary, and just _happened _to stop by the gas station where Abrey worked, and Abrey called Jenlauer, who just _happened _to have recently acquired a helicopter—and, apparently, was one of the kid's captors in the alternate timeline.

"You'd think an old-timer like me would be used to stuff like this by now," Theresa chuckled softly to her reflection. She glanced back at her sleeping family, realizing how much she'd missed them over the fifteen years they'd been apart.

Theresa shook her head, turned off the bathroom light, and got back into bed.

XIXIXIX

Alexis stared at the fire Lena had made with a few broken branches and matches from Will's backpack. They had decided to camp by Nemus' corpse, and use its mass to try to shelter them. Alexis was hugging Will's backpack tightly to her chest, as if holding her last tie to him as close as she could would bring him back. Lena prodded the flames with a stick, sending sparks into the air.

"Nemus was probably the oldest dragon in the world until today," Lena explained, breaking the silence. "He's been around almost forever, and he was only recently admitted to Wyrmroost. My dad met him once and knew about him, so that's how I know."

Alexis said nothing, uncharacteristically quiet. Lena began to chatter to fill up the emptiness.

"Dad said that the only thing anyone had ever seen of Nemus were flickers whenever he blinked. No one ever heard him either, and I already said what his breath weapon was. Dad says the Latin word for nobody is 'nemo', and they got that from Nemus."

Alexis looked up, her brown eyes solemn. "Nemo's a fish."

Lena laughed, despite the situation. Alexis smiled briefly.

Suddenly, a flash in the sky behind the dead dragon caught the girls' attention. They both looked up to see stars streaking across the sky.

"It's October 21st," Lena breathed, staring at the beautiful scene before her. "Meteor shower."

Alexis smiled. "I guess we can actually enjoy it this time."

"No crazy evils trying to kill us at the moment."

The girls' laughter that ensued was cut short by a new voice. "Touching, comical, I'm sure, but I'm afraid you're incorrect."

Alexis gasped and turned toward the voice, gripping Will's backpack a little tighter. Lena unzipped her sweatshirt and reached for her horn.

"Who's there?" Alexis asked tentatively.

There was a little chuckle. "Don't you recognize my voice?"

Lena put a hand over her mouth to hold back a scream as a little girl stepped out of the shadows, the light of the falling stars glinting off the blade of the survival knife in the girl's hand. Alexis furrowed her brow in confusion at the malice in the little girl's eyes.

"Joy?"

The little girl clenched her teeth and lunged forward, pressing the tip of her knife against Alexis' throat. "That is _not _my _name!"_

Alexis scrambled backward, slipping her arms through the straps of Will's backpack and slinging it over her back. Lena pulled out her horn, holding it like a weapon.

Aisha smiled wickedly. "It does seem appropriate that our weapons should match our disposition." She waved her knife, and the glinting blade morphed into a sword-length extension of tangible shadow. "It was easy to find you, Lena, even without the help of that little fairy."

"Tirin's deal was with you?" Alexis asked incredulously.

Aisha looked up at Alexis with contempt. "Yes. It was. She agreed to lead the boy to his death atop Moonfang Peak, separate the strong from the weak, and let the weak little shining princess meet her doom at my hands. In return, I sent her on a believable wild goose chase to find a fictional artifact to make her the dragon she believes she was born to be. Did you know? Your little guide was never a real fairy in the first place, but a dragon who had been changed by fairy magic while in the egg. Actually, I believe it was the same egg that hatched the dragon you intruded Wyrmroost with. But, that's an entirely different matter, completely unimportant. What matters is that I'm about to kill you."

Without warning, Aisha charged Lena with her unnatural shadowy blade. Lena met the blow with her horn as Alexis scurried back toward Nemus' body, grabbing a stick from the fire.

"Lena! Duck!" Alexis cried, heaving the flaming log. It should have hit Aisha, hurting her or at least making her back off from Lena. Instead, the fire was almost immediately put out with a wave of Aisha's hand. The log fell to the ground, useless. The only light now was coming from the meteor shower, which was dimming. Aisha was able to slip into darkness, becoming invisible.

"Shade walking," Lena whispered. Suddenly, Aisha appeared a few feet away from where she had vanished. Lena barely had time to whirl around and block the strike before Aisha disappeared into the darkness again.

"Why are you doing this?" Lena asked in desperation, dodging a thrust from Aisha's shadowy sword. "Just because you're a shadow charmer doesn't mean you have to be evil!"

Aisha laughed. "Your personal connections have weakened you, Lena. Your uncle is a fool, a weakling, believing that he can use the powers of darkness for the benefit of light. Perhaps my brother is under the same illusion."

Their blades clashed again, sending unnatural sparks of light and darkness into the air. Aisha pushed her sword against Lena's horn with strength that didn't fit her tiny form. Soon Lena had her back to the ground, just barely able to keep the dark blade away from her skin.

"I searched for you, Lena," Aisha spat. "I hunted and chased and fought and I caught you. And now…I'm going to kill you."

"No," Lena managed to whisper, her strength about to give out.

"Oh, yes," Aisha replied, her dark countenance full of malevolence and sinister triumph. "First you, and then your prattling little friend, and then your family. Everything that is dear to you will fall. It's a pity that your little _boyfriend_ will perish without knowing who was truly behind both of his deaths." She grinned wider, the whiteness of her teeth clashing against her dark brown skin. "Imagine that—Bradley Hutchinson will die twice, on the same day, at the hands of the same person."

Lena dropped her horn, unable to resist any longer. Aisha's dark sword shrunk back into a little knife that she pressed against Lena's neck. Suddenly Lena noticed out of the corner of her eye that Alexis was fiddling with a small crossbow from Will's backpack, trying to get it to work.

"Farewell, shining princess," Aisha said, raising her knife for the final strike.

Lena found her strength and her voice. "No!" She pushed upward with her horn and stood up, causing Aisha to fall backward. The shadow charmer immediately got back to her feet after falling, and swung her knife toward Lena's neck. Lena ducked, and Aisha's knife nicked her cheek instead of slicing her throat. Lena's hand went subconsciously to the cut.

Alexis figured out the crossbow and aimed it toward Aisha. "Lena! Get out of the way!"

Lena's eyes widened. "No!"

But it was too late. Aisha gasped and abruptly stepped backward as the arrow entered her small body, the cruel arrowhead protruding through the center of her back. Her black eyes widened, staring straight ahead. Time seemed to slow down as the knife fell from Aisha's hand, clattering against the stony ground, and Alexis lowered the crossbow. Lena got up to catch Aisha's body as it fell, cradling her lifeless form in her arms.

Lena stared at the dark spot that was spreading across Aisha's simple red tank top—it wasn't just blood. The blackness seemed to travel in swirls over the little girl's entire body, turning whatever it touched into nothing but a shadow. Soon all Lena was holding was an arrow.

She looked up at Alexis and shook her head. "What just happened?" she asked softly.

Alexis glanced at the arrow in Lena's hands, not truly believing that the blood on it was there because of her. She looked back at Lena.

"No," she said finally. "I'm going home."

Alexis adjusted Will's backpack on her shoulders and walked in what she hoped was the direction of the gate as the stars continued to fall, untouched by the sorrow and fear below them.

XIXIXIX

"_Oh, Celly-belly, you startled me," the blue female dragon said smoothly, facing the silver dragon. "Have you come to scold me for that little fiasco with those humans a while back? It really wasn't my fault, you know."_

_The silver dragon lifted his head. "You abandoned an egg twelve years ago. It was recovered by a young man shortly after, who gave it to his wife. Did you know this?"_

_The blue dragon narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Why?"_

"_This couple nurtured and hatched the egg," the silver dragon continued. "It survived and was raised by them, in human form, hidden."_

"_I don't see why we're having this conversation," the blue dragon said evasively._

"_Why did you abandon that egg?"_

"_Is it really that important to you?" she countered._

"_Answer me, Nafia," the silver dragon ordered._

_After a pause, the blue dragon obeyed. "Its father wanted it to survive."_

"_Who was that?" the silver dragon inquired._

"_Really, I'm still failing to see the reason behind your interest in-"_

"_Who is the father of this egg?" he repeated forcefully._

_The blue dragon gave up trying to avoid the answer. Her triple voice fell to a whisper, as if she didn't want any outsiders to hear._

Bradley's dream was cut short as he was abruptly dropped onto the ground. Raxtus was getting up from underneath him.

"Sorry, kid," Raxtus apologized as Bradley rubbed his head. "The sun's rising. We might want to get an early start. It's a long flight."

"Right. Yeah," Bradley nodded. He swallowed hard. "Let's go meet the dragon king."


	15. The Demon's Heir

Raxtus set Bradley down on a small ledge near the opening of a massive cavern and landed softly next to him.

"I'll go in first," Raxtus said. "Tell him you're here. Don't come in until he tells you to."

Bradley nodded. Raxtus flew into the cave. After a minute or two, a huge, booming voice commanded, "Enter, Bradley Hutchinson."

A feeling of uneasiness began to gnaw at Bradley's subconscious, but he dismissed it and obeyed the voice. He groped along a dark tunnel for a few yards before it opened up into a colossal stone room, illuminated by a dim white light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. An impossibly titanic silver dragon sat up at the back of the cavern. Raxtus was perched upon a tall rock beside his father, looking minuscule. Bradley bowed to the dragon king, dropping to one knee and lowering his head.

"Rise, boy," Celebrant ordered. His voice was deep, rich, and majestic, more kingly and regal than Bradley could have imagined. The dragon was enormous, with claws large enough to crush a tank in each talon and scales like polished silver. Raxtus was right when he described Celebrant as a larger version of himself—a _much _larger version.

"Um…greetings. Your Majesty," Bradley stuttered, unsure of what to say.

"Likewise, young dragon brother," Celebrant replied. "You have done well. Have you uncovered the reason for your summoning?"

"Well, no," Bradley admitted. "Raxtus never told me."

"As he was commanded. I am impressed you made it this far."

Bradley's face fell. "Not all of us did."

"Your friends were not meant to accompany you to Wyrmroost," Celebrant rumbled, glancing at his son. Raxtus bowed his head sheepishly as Celebrant turned back to Bradley. "Had you ventured here alone, the others would have survived. Then again, on your own, you surely would have perished at the first challenge."

Bradley's countenance transformed from sorrow to confusion as he looked up at Celebrant. "Challenge?"

"Test. Trial. Assessment," Celebrant defined. "Your encounters with Nafia, Thronis, Nemus—all orchestrated to test you."

"You set those up?" Bradley shouted in shock. "You probably got all three of them killed!"

"Your friends' deaths were not my fault," Celebrant growled. "As I said before, they were not meant to accompany you."

"Why?" Bradley questioned. "Why would you do that? I could have died."

"As was planned, young dragon brother."

Bradley stood in silence for a moment as the dragon king's words sank in. When he realized the truth, he looked from Celebrant to Raxtus. "You knew about this the whole time and you didn't tell me?"

Raxtus turned away. "Sorry, kid."

"But I'm your friend."

"And I am his father, and his king," Celebrant cut in. "The survival of one meager friendship is not worth letting a great evil upon the world."

"Why do you hate me so much? What do you have against me? You've never even met me before!"

"One does not need to know evil to know it must be defeated."

"What are you talking about? I'm not evil!"

"Father," Raxtus interrupted, "he deserves to know."

Celebrant lifted his head. "Very well. Bradley Hutchinson, are you familiar with the name of Gavin Rose?"

Bradley furrowed his brow in puzzlement. "Yeah, he—he was my cousin. My mom's brother's kid. But I never knew him—my mom said he died in a car accident before I was born."

"All incorrect," Celebrant responded. "Gavin Rose was a cover name for the demonic dragon Navarog, a prince among demons, dark and evil beyond description. He was destroyed twenty-four years ago by my son, but it wasn't until recently that it was discovered that not long before his death, Navarog had fathered an egg. The mother of this egg had a tendency to slaughter her own young, and so she abandoned the egg outside of Wyrmroost in an attempt to keep a part of Navarog alive. The egg was found and taken home soon afterward by Devon Hutchinson. He gave it to his young wife as a souvenir from his latest expedition."

Bradley swallowed hard and tried to contain his nervousness as Celebrant continued. Raxtus turned and flew into an adjoining tunnel, refusing to watch the execution.

"When the egg hatched and your parents realized its heritage, rather than doing away with the hatchling as they should have done, they decided to do their best to raise it as their own son. With the help of several skilled magicians, they were able to give the child a mostly normal human childhood."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Bradley protested. "No, that's not true!"

"Do not try to deny it," Celebrant warned. "You are the son of the darkest dragon to ever live. Evil is in your blood. Until now, Devon and Layla Hutchinson's magical tampering suppressed the dragon part of you. Now that you have reached adolescence, it is beginning to show through, especially with the recent experiences you have gone through. You are a threat to the world, and since your false parents failed to remove this threat, it has become my responsibility, as the king of our kind."

"So you wanna kill me just because of my dad?" Bradley challenged. "Just because he was evil doesn't make me evil! That happens all the time, and the son always turns out to be a good guy. Like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, or Lord Garmadon and—"

"Silence!" Celebrant commanded. "I suggest you do not protest, and accept your death with dignity." He raised his claw to strike.

Bradley stepped back and looked over his shoulder at the tunnel he had entered through. "So I'm a dragon, huh?" he whispered to himself. "Teeth and claws and wings and fire breath and everything?"

Celebrant's claw came slashing down, straight towards Bradley—

And smashed into solid rock, sending gravel-sized pieces into the air. The dragon king growled as he saw Bradley running through the tunnel.

"Yeah, right!" Bradley called over his shoulder. "Dignity, schmignity!"

Bradley was running too fast to slow down at all. The tunnel was about to open into the crisp morning air. He saw the edge of the cliff coming up fast. He tried to stop by dragging his feet through the rocky dirt, but his momentum was too great.

Suddenly, Celebrant burst roaring out of the side of the mountain. Bradley looked back quickly, never slowing in his pace, then turned back and saw that he was almost to the edge. He squeezed his eyes shut.

_I'm a dragon, I'm a dragon, I'm a dragon, I'm a dragon, with teeth and claws and wings and fire breath and teeth and claws and wings and fire breath and teeth and claws and _wings_ and wings and wings and wings…_

Bradley gritted his teeth, leapt off the ledge, and dissolved into the dragon within himself.

XIXIXIX

Alexis bit her lip and looked up at the arrow in the bark, pointing in the opposite direction than she was going. She rubbed her eyes and blinked hard, squinting at the sun that was shyly peeking over the horizon. Had she really been walking all night?

"Doesn't matter," she whispered to herself. "I can sleep all I want at home."

Maybe she could just walk all the way back to her house. She hadn't even looked to see what all was in Will's backpack—probably enough food and water and stuff to last however long it took to get back home. Or maybe she could hitchhike. Or maybe she could steal a car or a plane or something. She had already killed someone. She was already a criminal. What was an auto theft after murder? Alexis Blaskenjoom, fugitive, running from the law. She could deal with that.

_No, you can't. Get real. You're just an annoyingly talkative seventh-grader. You can't handle a life like that._

Her next few steps were angry and pounded into the ground, like it was the dirt's fault she was a murderer now. But it wasn't the dirt's fault. It was her fault.

Alexis blew an errant strand of brown hair out of her face, then scowled when it just fell back down. Stupid hair. Stupid dirt. Stupid crossbow, stupid dragon, stupid Joy, stupid Lena, stupid Will, stupid Bradley, stupid Alexis. Stupid, stupid, stupid Alexis.

And then all of a sudden there was the beat of wings above her. Alexis frowned up at the sound, and then realized it was Raxtus swooping down above her. He landed on the ground in front of her and skidded to a stop, sending clouds of dirt into the air. Alexis glared at him.

"We've got a huge problem," Raxtus said worriedly.

"Yeah, no kidding," Alexis deadpanned.

"Bradley's in trouble. Like, about-to-get-minced-by-my-dad trouble. Where's Lena?"

"Still in the graveyard."

"Graveyard?"

"Yeah, now there's three deaths over there. Didn't you hear? The third one was my fault."

Raxtus jumped into the air and flew off, looking for Lena. Alexis turned and started to walk away, but then she was lifted into the air with a scream that started out surprised and then turned angry.

"Leave me alone!" Alexis demanded, hitting Raxtus' claw that was wrapped around her waist. "I'm going home!"

"_After _we save your cousin's life," Raxtus replied, and then softer, "and probably end mine."

A few minutes later, they landed by Nemus' decomposing but still enormous corpse. Lena was scratching something into the dirt with a stick, and looked up in surprise when they arrived.

"What's going on?" Lena asked.

"Nope, no time to explain," Raxtus dismissed. "He's probably wrapping up his speech by now. We've gotta—"

He was cut off by a huge _CRASH! _and an angry roar that shook the trees around them. They looked up to see two massive dragons flying near Moonfang, one silver and one black. The black one appeared to be fleeing before the silver one caught it and slashed at it with its claws, engaging in battle. The black dragon fought back with an equally loud roar.

"Oh, no, no, no, he didn't," Raxtus denied. "Ohhh, this is not good."

"What? What's going on? Who are those dragons?" Alexis asked.

Despite Alexis' bafflement, Lena seemed to catch on immediately. "Raxtus, take me to Thronis. I have an idea."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Nope, just really hopeful." Lena unzipped her sweatshirt and pulled out her horn, handing it to Alexis. "Use that when you think he's getting out of control. You'll probably need it. Raxtus, hurry!"

"What? What am I supposed to do with this?" Alexis cried as Raxtus took Lena into the air. "Wait! Come back! What's going on? What am I supposed to do?!"

XIXIXIX

Lena jumped onto the patio and ran to the colossal door. "Thronis! Thronis, it's Lena! I need your help!"

The door opened and the sky giant's gigantic face peered out. "Well, I must say this is quite unexpected. Rarely will one of my prisoners be so audacious as to return after their escape, especially this early in the morning—unless they have something else to offer me." He raised an eyebrow. "Have you anything to offer?"

"Um, gratitude?" Lena tried. "The pleasure of a good deed? I really need your help with the weather. Could your friendship with my uncle also apply to me? Just this once? He told me that you once changed the weather for him."

"The dragons trust me to keep the weather fair. Foul winds and dragon flight do not mix well."

"Please? Just this once? My friend's up there, and he's gonna die unless you conjure up some weather."

"Yes, you are quite right. Even with the most powerful storm, no dragon can stand against Celebrant. But I suppose it is worth a try."

"It's always worth a try."

Thronis' lips curled upward in a sort of smile. "You have your uncle's spirit, Lena. I admire that."

Lena blushed. "Really?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," Thronis replied, fingering his silver collar. "He motioned for Lena to follow as he walked down to his crystal chamber. "It appears the tables have turned. The last time I conjured a storm upon a human's request, it was to prevent Navarog from winning a battle. Now I am doing so to save the life of his son."

Lena grinned, her eyes misty. "If you were normal size, I would hug you right now."

Thronis laughed.

XIXIXIX

Alexis gaped up at the sky as the two dragons clashed in midair, roaring and snapping at each other. Suddenly, the shimmer of silver scales and the hum of rapidly flapping wings caught her attention.

"Tirin!" Alexis exclaimed, running toward the dragonlike fairy, who was also watching the battle. Tirin turned and frowned at Alexis.

"What's going on?" Alexis shouted, trying to be heard over the clamoring of the dragons. "Raxtus came down like ten minutes ago and said that Bradley was in trouble and then we went to get Lena and he was about to take us somewhere but then these dragons just like exploded out of the mountain like trying to kill each other! Who are they? Why are they fighting? What happened to Bradley?"

Tirin said nothing. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and turned away.

"IS this because Lena's not here? She went up with Raxtus a little bit ago to Thronis's castle mansion thing and she didn't tell me why—"

She was interrupted by a drop of water falling onto her nose. Alexis looked up to see that the sky was blanketed with nearly-black storm clouds. Lightning flashed above the fighting dragons as they clashed again, claws tearing at each other. Rain and sleet began to fall more powerfully, and the wind caused Alexis' brown hair to flap around her face. Tirin flew off the seek shelter from the storm, but Alexis remained staring at the fierce battle above her.

"The weather!" she suddenly realized. Alexis picked up Lena's horn, which she had left on the ground, and adjusted Will's backpack on her shoulders.

"But what am I supposed to do?" Alexis asked herself. "Tirin! Tirin, where'd you go?"

The fairy's choppy black hair and annoyed face popped up from under a rock.

"Lena gave me her horn and told me I should use it if it gets out of control. Do you know where Bradley is? What happened to him?"

Tirin sneered. "Are you as slow a thinker as you are fast a talker?"

"What?"

Tirin pointed a small clawed finger at the black dragon, which was trying to fly away from the attacking silver dragon. Alexis stared at the dragon, then at Tirin, standing in shocked silence for a moment.

"The black dragon ate Bradley?!" Alexis exclaimed,

Tirin groaned and rolled her eyes. "By the time Celebrant's done with him, you'll be close enough."

Alexis considered the fairy's words. As the pieces clicked together in her mind, her brown eyes widened and she put a hand over her mouth to muffle a scream.

"It didn't eat him, it _is _him!" Alexis cried as thunder rolled above her. "Omigosh, Bradley's a dragon! My cousin's a dragon! How the crap did that happen? But then why is he fighting Celebrant? Did one of them turn evil? No, no, Bradley can't be evil!"

Not noticing that Tirin had flown away from the now pelting sleet and blustering wind, Alexis stared from the roaring dragons to the things Lena had left her. Bradley was the black dragon, fighting Celebrant. The only reason Bradley would be fighting the dragon king was if one of them was evil. Black dragons are usually evil.

"The horn!" Alexis shouted. "Purifying! It'll make him good again!"

Alexis gripped the horn like a javelin, ready to throw it at the black dragon. She aimed carefully and launched the horn.

It clattered to the ground. Alexis curse under her breath and retrieved the horn.

"The bow!" Alexis said suddenly, taking off Will's backpack. Sure enough, his small, compactible crossbow was still in there. She pulled it out and fumbled with the complicated levers, triggers, and switches on the weapon, struggling to remove the arrow in it and replace it with Lena's horn. Eventually, after several failed attempts to load the crossbow, Alexis had it all figured out and aimed at the black dragon.

"Will, if you're out there," she pleaded, "help me get a good shot!"

Alexis squeezed her eyes shut and fired.


	16. Always There

The transformation was disorienting. That was all he knew, all he felt—disorientation and need to escape, fight, survive. The brand-new dragon had no time to consider himself, no thought, no memory, nothing but confusion and rage and fear. He was being attacked, and he had to flee. Yet every time he tried to escape, the silver dragon just chased him and fought him, forcing him to defend himself and retaliate. Fight, fly, flee, keep yourself steady despite the blustering, pelting sleet and wind and rain.

He shot downward a few feet, long enough for his foe to pursue him, and then curved sharply up, cutting the other dragon off. Not thinking where to go to escape, he sped straight upward as the silver dragon struggled to extricate itself from the wind's invisible chains. He had almost made it, he was almost free-

And then all he could see was searing white pain, bright as a star, hot as a flame. It burned at his entire being for a second before it was suddenly interrupted by a new pain, one that caused darkness to creep in at the edges of his blinded vision. Dark and light began to swirl together as he felt himself falling, changing, until he abruptly stopped descending and felt warm, familiar arms around him. Bradley opened his eyes and saw Lena's wet, worried, beautiful face for a split second before the darkness overcame him.

XIXIXIX

"Hold on, Bradley, hold on," Lena begged the limp body in her arms. "Please, be okay."

Raxtus landed softly on the ground and Lena slid off his back, gently laying Bradley down. She knelt beside him and cradled his head with a careful arm. Three long, deep gashes slashed across his neck, dripping scarlet blood. Her horn was embedded in his stomach. His gray sweatshirt was gone, and the blue t-shirt he had been wearing underneath it was ripped and torn enough for her to see that the color in his skin was slowly fading, except for a bright spot around her horn—a spot that was also covered with blood.

"Bradley!" cried Alexis' voice. Lena turned to see her friend running towards her. "No! Omigosh, is he dead? No, no, Lena, tell me he's not dead!"

Suddenly a disgusting creature leapt in between them—a scaly dull green thing the size of a dog that looked like a cross between a lizard and a spider, hissing and clicking its mandibles. Alexis screamed and stepped backward as Raxtus batted the creature away as if it were a mouse, sending it screeching through the air. However, no sooner had that one fallen to the ground than several others crept out of their own hiding places and continued attacking, soon swarming. Raxtus and Alexis struggled to fight off the deluge of monsters as Lena curled up away from them, clinging to Bradley's lifeless, bloody form.

Bradley drew one wheezing, rattling breath. Lena laid her free hand on his chest, feeling a heartbeat that pounded rapidly for a second before stopping abruptly. The bright spot near the wound her horn had made felt hot under her hand, despite the snow that was now falling on top of it.

Bradley's eyes shot open without warning, and Lena resisted drawing back in terror—they were completely black, like an animal's, but with a thin line of red where his irises had been. He began to shake and convulse like he was having a seizure. Lena wrapped an arm around his injured middle and pulled him close in an attempt to calm the trembling. Alexis was still a few feet away, smacking lizard-spiders away with a broken branch as Raxtus did the same with his claws. The creatures squealed and screeched, mandibles clicking hideously.

"Come on, Bradley," Lena whispered. "It's okay. Please, be okay."

"Heal him!" Alexis yelled, sending an attacking creature flying. "You're all magic-fairy-unicorn-y, heal him!"

Nervous and unsure, Lena lowered a hand to Bradley's neck. He had stopped convulsing and now appeared dead, his eyes closed and his chest still. Lena bit her lip and touched one of the gashes. His blood was warm.

Lena tried to tune out the screeching and hissing of the lizard-spiders. She tried to tune out Alexis' hopeless cries and demands. She tried to tune out Raxtus roaring futilely as the attacking creatures overwhelmed him. She tried to tune out her own fear and focus on helping Bradley. The terrible, unnatural eyes snapped open again and Bradley gasped, the sound shaking and dying out. Suddenly his hand shot up and wrapped itself around Lena's throat, cutting off her breath. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, struggling for air.

"Bradley!" she wheezed. Darkness began to edge her vision as Bradley unconsciously squeezed harder, his pupils directed at nothing, staring into some black dream. Lena was almost ready to give up and pass out when she was suddenly freed from her friends grip by a lizard-spider lunging between them, causing her to fall and roll a few feet. The swarm of creatures crowded her vision as she tried to crawl back toward Bradley, until her hand fell on top of a small, round object. Her magical communication coin had fallen out of her pocket. Lena seized the coin with new determination and rubbed it, struggling to get through to her father until another of the lizard-spiders jumped on top of her, knocking her to the ground. Her head hit a rock, causing her to see stars. When her vision cleared, she found it directed toward the dark, stormy sky.

_The sun should be rising now, _she thought, focusing on the sky despite the fact that the creature on top of her had ominous clear liquid beginning to ooze from its pincers. _If not for this storm, it would be dawn now._

The lizard-spider hissed loudly, as if to say_ Hello! I'm about to kill you here! Pay attention!_

Almost obediently, Lena pushed the creature off with a grunt and rolled over, scrambling away. She managed to push herself to her feet, looking for her friends and her coin, but everything was covered with countless lizard-spiders, so numerous that they appeared to be a single mass. Lena soon found herself being buried beneath the myriad of monsters.

_I can't do this. I can't heal him. I can't make it. I need help._

Raxtus burst upward, flapping his silver wings, escaping for a moment only to be flooded again by the creatures.

_Help me, someone, anyone, please, I need help!_

Her hand once again felt the tiny warm disc beneath her fingers. She curled her fingers around the coin and gripped it tight.

_Help me._

Another of the creatures crawled over her back, considering the cold skin on the back of her neck hungrily.

_Help me._

As she struggled to move toward her friends underneath the creatures, her hand finally closed around Bradley's limp, cold wrist.

_Help me._

Suddenly a new voice entered her mind. _Ask me once, and I'm on my way. Ask me twice, and I'm right here, Princess._

The pressure on Lena's back from the swarming creatures was lifted off all at once, and replaced by the pressure of strong arms around her, lifting her into the air.

"Ask me three times, and I'll always be right here," Bracken whispered into his daughter's ear.

Lena couldn't help it. The sudden relief and joy that came with her father's appearance forced her to laugh with delight, delight that was only heightened when she realized that he was not the only one to come to their rescue. There were really probably less than ten other people there, fighting off lizard-spiders, but to Lena it seemed like they were an army—an army of angels, most of them familiar, a few strangers.

"Don't let go of him," Bracken urged, setting Lena onto the ground. He kept his arms around her, one to keep her close and the other to help her hold up Bradley's body. "Right now, I think you're the only thing keeping him alive."

Lena pulled Bradley toward herself and let his limp head fall onto her shoulder. "You can help me with that, right?"

"Without a doubt," Bracken replied. "Let's get rid of these things and get you kids home."

With that, he pulled a gleaming silver sword out of thin air and leapt into the fray.

XIXIXIX

A cool hand on his forehead was the first sensation Bradley had before opening his eyes. When he did, he saw Lena near him, her white-blonde hair in a side ponytail and her silvery blue eyes shining. He was lying on his bed, and Lena was sitting next to him. She was wearing a pink short-sleeved blouse and slightly smiled when she saw that he was awake.

"What just happened?" Bradley asked.

Lena adjusted her ponytail. She somehow looked prettier than Bradley recalled. "What all do you remember?"

"I was with Celebrant," Bradley recollected, "in his cave. And Raxtus was there. He said something about…a dragon, an evil one, and it had something to do with my parents…and then I remember fighting, and falling…he was trying to _kill _me…"

"It's okay, you're okay," Lena calmed, putting her hand on Bradley's shoulder. He realized that he had been shouting. Bradley leaned back against his headboard.

A surprised smile crept across Lena's face. "You're a dragon," she said, a surprised smile creeping across her face. "You almost walked away unscathed from a fight with Celebrant. Well, flew away. But still, that's pretty impressive."

"But he got me," Bradley worried. "He won. I was falling, I was dying—"

"And then I caught you," Lena interrupted. "Raxtus flew me up to save you and we brought you down to the ground. My parents arrived not long after, and we managed to heal you enough that you could survive. Tirin and Raxtus helped."

"You saved my life."

Lena grinned. "Pretty much."

"But why'd Tirin help? She was trying to kill me too.

"It was because of Navarog," Lena said, her face becoming serious. "Since he's your father, darkness and evil is in your blood. But my dad and I were able to get all the darkness out of you. You're clean now."

"No evil anymore. So Celebrant won't be trying to kill me?"

"Right."

Suddenly, Bradley's bedroom door popped open.

"Bradley! You're okay!" Alexis exclaimed, running over to give him a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay cus I thought that by shooting that horn it would make you good but I really screwed up and instead it almost got you killed and I was really really really feeling guilty about it but then Raxtus and Lena were there trying to help you and we were being attacked by these weird little lizard-spider thingies and we were all about to die and then all of a sudden Lena's parents and your parents and Officer Kent and a whole bunch of other people too who helped us and then there was a giant Raxtus who I'm guessing was Celebrant, right? But everyone was there and it seemed like you were dead but then Lena did her epic light thing and you were all healed and stuff and yay!"

"Yay," Bradley replied, smiling weakly. He touched his neck and felt three thin scars.

"Sorry about those," Lena apologized. "Celebrant scratched you pretty deep."

"Are you kidding?" Bradley asked skeptically, sitting up taller. "You've been doing nothing but help me the whole time I've known you. You fought Nyssa. You persuaded Thronis to let us go. You protected me from Nemus. In fact, I think the only time you weren't at my side at Wyrmroost was when I was with Celebrant. You completely healed me and got rid of the whole reason Celebrant was trying to kill me in the first place. I'd be dead a thousand times over if not for you. And here you are, apologizing for a few little scars."

Neither of them noticed Alexis lifting an excited hand to her mouth. "Ooh, I think I know where this is going," she squeaked quietly, grinning.

Lena sat in surprised silence, her cheeks pinker than usual. She smiled. "Thanks."

"Thank you," Bradley countered. "You've been so great and all I've done in return is get myself into more trouble for you to save me from."

_You helped me escape a giant furry rhino, _Lena thought. _You gave me a safe place to stay. You held my hand at the end of the world._

"You two are totally getting all emotional and stuff!" Alexis squealed. "I'll leave you guys alone." She darted out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Lena smiled. "Classic Alexis."

"Liar," Bradley laughed. "She only said, like two things."

"Good point. Silent Alexis, then."

"Hey!" hollered a muffled voice on the other side of the door. "I didn't leave you two in a room together just so you could talk about me!"

"Alexis, why are you eavesdropping on us?" Bradley called.

There was the sound of footsteps scampering away from the door.

"You know, it's not that bad if she hears what we're saying in here," Lena said, facing Bradley and leaning against his headboard.

"Yes, it is," Bradley argued. "If we say anything remotely romantic in here, no one will let us hear the end of it, let alone her."

Lena raised an eyebrow. "Romantic? Such as?"

"Such as you're the most beautiful, amazing, bravest, best person I've ever met," Bradley blurted.

Lena's cheeks burned. "Really? You mean that?"

Instead of responding, Bradley leaned forward and kissed Lena's light pink lips.

She took that as a yes.


	17. The Ones We Lost

The Sphinx inhaled deeply and looked around. He was standing on a large boulder overlooking a sparsely vegetated, rocky landscape, just as he had imagined. A huge, decomposing corpse of a white dragon was not too far away, with an unnatural clump of pink flowers near it. The Sphinx put the small bejeweled cylinder back into his pocket. He had secretly retrieved the Translocator a year ago, wanting to investigate a rumor regarding a well-protected place he had once visited, never suspecting he would use it to visit a grave site.

Careful to avoid any scavengers that might be hanging around the dead dragon, the Sphinx made his way toward the clump of flowers. They were hagenias, Aisha's favorite flower, native to Ethiopia. Knowing that Lena had access to the floral skills of most fairies, he didn't wonder much where the flowers had come from.

The Sphinx knelt by the flowers. A few words were scratched into the dirt in front of him

_Joy_

_Shadow Charmer_

_Devoted Sister_

_Best Friend_

He stared at the words, not sure how to feel—remorse? Fear? Anger? No, contempt—contempt for the little girl who believed that a simple arrow could end the most powerful shadow charmer on earth, the little girl who wanted to bury a friend and yet didn't even have the decency to use her real name.

The Sphinx kicked the dirt, and the words disappeared.

XIXIXIX

"_Okay, Mom, are you filming me?"_

"_Yeah, it's filming."_

"_Does it say the little 'rec' thing in the corner? Because last time—"_

"_It's filming, Will. Are you going to do this or not?"_

_Will gives a thumbs-up and smiles. One of his front teeth is missing. He turns around and runs out to the balcony, the camera shaking a little as his mother follows him. He climbs onto the railing, flourishing his little bow as he turns around, almost wobbling on the narrow beam._

"_And now, I, William Burgess," he announces dramatically, "will jump off this balcony, onto that trampoline, and while I fall, I'll shoot that apple on my dad's head!"_

_The camera zooms in on Warren standing against a tree in the backyard, an apple balanced on his head. He looks at the camera and waves. Vanessa turns the camera back onto Will, forgetting to zoom back out at first and giving the screen an extreme close-up of the seven-year-old's nose. When she fixes it, she gives Will a thumbs-up._

"_All right, on three!" she prompts._

_Will nocks an arrow tipped with a little red suction cup and turns away from the camera._

"_One…"_

"_Two three!" he interrupts, leaping off the balcony and releasing the arrow at almost the same time. He lands on the little trampoline on the ground, bounces off, and then shouts "Yeah!" The camera zooms in on Warren, who is taking the apple off his head. He holds it up and displays that Will's little toy arrow is stuck right onto the center of the apple. He gives his son a high-five._

"_All right, Will!" Vanessa cheers. _

"_Next time I'll use a _real _arrow!" Will declares, meeting a gasp of mock terror from Warren and laughter from all three of them._

The tape ended.

Vanessa turned off the television and buried her head in her hands. It didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair that he was only seventeen. It wasn't fair that she had been waiting two years for her baby to come back, only to be informed that he was dead. Two years without him. Sometimes it felt more like twenty; other times, it felt like no time at all. She could remember clearly her last conversation with her son like it was yesterday. No matter how many times she tried to erase the memory, it remained burned into her mind for eternity.

_He slammed something else into his backpack. "Shut up! Don't even talk to me!"_

"William Patton Burgess, you listen to me right now! You are not—"

"_I said shut up!" He slung the backpack over his shoulder and pushed past his mother._

"_Will!" Vanessa shouted, running after him in anger. "Stop right now and listen to me! You think you're old enough to do whatever you want, but you're not! I am still your mother and you are still my son, and I expect you to act like it!"_

"_You expect me to act like a baby! I'm the best archer to come around for years, I can hold my ground against almost any kind of magical fear, I'm good with potions, I know how to survive pretty much anything that could try to attack me—I can handle myself out in the world! Why can't you just trust me?"_

"_This is not about trust, this is about you not respecting me and your father! And if you think you can handle yourself out there, fine! And don't come back until you're ready to apologize and answer for your actions!"_

"_Then I'm never coming back!"_

And so he didn't.

Vanessa picked up the remote, turned the television back on, and rewound the tape of home movies as far back as she could, wanting to remember the good moments of her son, before it went all wrong.

She stopped at the very beginning of the videotape—a shot of her seventeen years ago, her dark hair in a messy ponytail, a rare grin on her face, and a tiny blue bundle in her arms. She pressed play.

"_Look at that, Willy," Warren narrates. "That's you! Look how cute you are."_

_The camera zooms in on the newborn's pink, round face. His eyes are closed._

"_And that's your mommy," he continues, putting the camera back on Vanessa. "She's gonna be the best mom ever. Isn't that right?"_

_Vanessa chuckles. "Well, probably not the best. But I'm definitely going to be the one who loves him the most." She closes her eyes and gives Will a kiss on his tiny forehead. "Forever and ever."_

And despite her efforts to contain it, a tear dropped from Vanessa's eye as she remembered. "Forever and ever and ever."

XIXIXIX

"I don't wanna go home," Ella whined, hugging Doren's leg. "I want stay wit Dowin."

"An Noll!" Jane added. She was clinging to Newel.

Layla frowned at the satyrs. They shrugged innocently.

"What can we say?" Doren said evasively.

"We have a way with females," Newel admitted.

Layla made a gesture that the satyrs took for a sophisticated facepalm. "This is exactly why I was so upset when he said he left them with _satyrs,"_ she muttered to Devon, who was standing next to her. She looked back up and held out her arms. "Give me Jane, please."

Newel looked Layla in the eyes, struggling to maintain a stolid expression. He shifted the little three-year-old in his arms and held her in front of him. "I suppose this is goodbye, my little friend. Back you go into the world of your own people. You don't belong here. You belong with your family. Your parents." His lower lip began to tremble. "I won't soon forget you, or your sister."

Jane poked Newel's cheek with a tiny finger. "Meow."

Newel pursed his lips and nodded. "Likewise, my dear." He lowered Jane into Layla's arms, holding on for a little bit longer than he needed to, until Layla finally managed to yank her daughter away. Newel stared down at his hooves.

"Come on, Ella," Devon coaxed, holding out a hand to his other daughter. Ella looked up at Doren, squeezed his leg one last time, and took her father's hand, following Layla out the door. Newel watched them go, his eyes welling up with tears.

Jane lifted up a small hand over her mother's shoulder and wiggled it from side to side. "Bye-bye, Noll! Bye-bye, Dowin!"

"Bye-bye, Jane!" the satyrs called back in unison.

Jane pressed her hand to her mouth and then thrust it toward the satyrs with an exaggerated "Mwah!"

"Daddy?" Ella said.

"What, darling?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Ella."

"An I love Noll an Dowin."

Layla opened the back door of her car and placed Jane into her car seat as Devon did the same with Ella on the other side. Newel sniffed and rubbed his eye. Doren closed the door and patted his grieving friend on the shoulder as the Hutchinsons drove away.

Suddenly there was a loud crash as the large window in the kitchen was flung open and Seth tumbled through it, his lumpy, heavy-looking backpack clanging as he did so. Newel and Doren turned around.

"The door's right there," Doren pointed out.

Seth stood up and took off his backpack, hefting it onto the counter. "Yeah, but it looked like you were having a moment there. I didn't want to interrupt it. Plus, apparently I really offended Zolie the last time I saw her—you know, the really short dryad who acts like a cross between Barbie and Dora the Explorer? So now all the dryads have a problem with me and probably were waiting to ambush me by the door. Anyway, I think I hit the jackpot."

"Jackpot?" Newel's face brightened. "I like that word."

Seth unzipped his backpack. Newel and Doren fell over each other to try to be the first to see its contents, but then Seth dumped it all out onto the counter—a plethora of gold and silver and jewels, coins and chains and figurines. The satyrs gasped in awe. Doren snatched up a ruby the size of a golf ball and stared in wonder at it. "Where did you get all this?"

Seth grinned. "When your niece is friends with a dragon, the gold never really ends."

"Do you have any idea how many Twinkies we could buy with this?" Newel marveled.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Seth frowned. "They're not making any Twinkies anymore. Hostess closed, like, a month ago. Sorry."

All the amazement in Newel and Doren's eyes seemed to pop like an overinflated balloon. Newel stared at Seth in disbelief for a protracted moment, leaned against the counter for support, and then burst into wailing.


	18. Filler Chapter (sorry)

**Author's Note: This isn't really a chapter…I just want this story to have the same amount of chapters as Destroy the Human Keys. So this is just to take up space. On a completely different note, Happy Holidays, everyone!**


	19. The Magic of Life

_Hey there, this is Bradley, taking over my mom's blog for a day. She said I could write the post for this weekend as long as I promise to keep it vague. So, I'll just give you the basics._

_It started when I was babysitting Jane and Ella, and my cousin Alexis and her friend Lena showed up to take me to Canada because some big-shot leader guy had heard of me and wanted to see me—we didn't know why at the time. While on our way to Canada, we met a really cool guy named Will who Alexis got a crush on. Then a whole bunch of crazy amazing dangerous stuff happened, we lost Will, I met the guy who wanted to see me, and found out that—brace yourself—I'm actually adopted. Needless to say, I was a bit upset—so upset that, I'll admit, I jumped off a cliff. But thankfully, Lena caught me and then a whole bunch of people arrived to take us home. I think Lena was really impressed by my cliff-jumping skills. We're kind of a couple now._

Lena, reading over Bradley's shoulder as he typed, made a skeptical noise. "'Impressed by my cliff-jumping skills'? Are you trying to sound like a dork?" she teased playfully.

Bradley closed the laptop and leaned back in the lawn chair he had dragged up to the balcony. "Well, what do you suggest I say? 'She saved my life, I professed my undying love, and we strolled romantically off into the sunset'?"

"Well, half of that's true."

"If you want, we could we could stroll romantically off into the sunset this evening. Make it all true."

"You realize my parents won't let me date until I'm sixteen."

Bradley set the laptop onto a little nearby table and grabbed a throw pillow. "That's okay. I'm tired enough to sleep for the next three years."

As Bradley put the pillow under his head and closed his eyes, Lena leaned back in her own chair. "You know what we need?"

"A hundred pillows and a big comfy bed, I'm pooped. Wake me up in time for my birthday."

"I'm serious," Lena smiled, gently throwing her pillow at Bradley. "In all the movies, at the end, when the adventure's over and everyone's all together and happy, what do they always have?"

"End credits?"

"No, stupid," Lena laughed good-naturedly. She stood up and pulled Bradley's pillow out from under his head. "We need to have a dance party."

Bradley grinned and sat up. "First one there gets to choose the music."

"You're on."

Both of them stood up and ran through the sliding glass door into the house, laughing and coltishly pushing each other out of the way as they raced to have control of the sound system.

"If you choose Justin Bieber, I'm breaking up with you!"

"Not until I'm sixteen, doofus!"

When they reached the large room in the basement that they used for family activities, they were surprised to see Alexis already standing there, a CD held menacingly in her hand.

"Hahaha! You're too late!" she cackled. She put the CD into the boombox and pressed 'play'. Bradley and Lena stood anxiously in wait, wondering what torture Alexis had planned for them, until the silence broke and they both cried out in jocund horror as the introduction to _Call Me Maybe_ began to play. But before long, all three of them were dancing around and singing along, joined promptly by their parents and Bradley's sisters. By the time the chorus played for the second time, the actual music was all but drowned out by its off-key but merry listeners.

"_Hey, I just met you! And this is crazy! But here's my number! So CALL ME MAYBE!"_

XIXIXIX

_Oh yeah. We're totally a couple. _

_Oh, also, Mom and Dad left Jane and Ella with Lena's uncle, who in turn left them with his friends, who weren't exactly known for their responsibility with children—Mom says it's safe for me to say that they're "drunk party animals obsessed with TV" (her words!). But then it turned out that Jane and Ella really like these guys (hopefully for good reasons.) So it's all okay._

_Alexis has been kinda down lately, she won't tell me exactly why, but Lena says it's because she misses Will and she's feeling guilty for something she did while I was meeting the leader guy who wanted to see me. But apparently she doesn't feel guilty enough to spare us from her music preferences (she made us listen to "Call Me Maybe" just now)._

_Lena says that the last time she had an adventure like this one, she wrote about it in her journal, and that she thought I should do the same. But since I don't really have a journal, I decided to hijack my mom's blog for a day. However, she could be a lot more open in her journal, since she knew no one else was gonna read it. I know this blog has a lot of readers, so that's why I've had to be vague. _

_If this post is kind of confusing for you, it's just because Mom says I can't say anything about you-don't-know-what to the public. If you're really that curious, drink the milk (Lena says that's what led her mom to find out about it). If you're not really that curious, good for you. To be honest, my life was a whole lot easier before I found out—but now that I think about it, it was also a lot emptier. I never would've met Lena, or Will, or a bunch of other friends, or found out I'm adopted, or found out a whole bunch of other stuff I could do if not for discovering this. _

_So I guess it's a good thing. In a crazy, dangerous, rarely-makes-sense, probably-gonna-get-me-killed, amazingly awesome sort of way._

_If you're a normal person, who values a long life, a happy family, and an existence without nearly constant fear, you can just leave this post alone, disregard it, call it a teenage boy's wild imagination. Not everyone's cut out for stuff like this. Frankly, I wasn't so sure until now that I was cut out for it. But if you really think you can handle this, if you really know it's what you want, you know what to do._

_Drink the milk. It'll open your eyes._

_Good luck._


	20. Sneak Peek of Heed the Silent Prophet

**Author's Note: And here is a sneak preview for the threequel (no, that's not really a word), Heed the Silent Prophet (yes, I'm making this a trilogy)! This is not actually part of the story, but a short little piece before it, with some insight into the new character I'm introducing. He's awesome.**

Zé shook his head a little to get a few strands of black hair out of his eyes and scanned his endless vision for the face he had yet to see in person. There she was— staring at stars falling from the sky, sitting beside a huge, dead creature, and talking, as usual, to a blonde-haired girl about her same age. Lena, another part of the coming event. It was soon. He could see it.

Zé skidded down a small hill and leapt over a shrub, never slowing in his pace. He was quite near, less than ten miles away from the rescuer of the earth, as well as the son of darkness, the daughter of light, and the only person who he could really trust and relate to. Of all the people he was chasing to take part in the imminent occasion, perhaps she was the one he was most looking forward to his reunion with.

Briefly removing his attention from the authors of world change, Zé wove rapidly through the trees around him and directed his sight toward the man who had started him on this journey. Strangely, he no longer felt bitterness toward the Sphinx, who had admitted a demon into his preserve, killed his mother, destroyed his home, stolen the only thing he had to protect, and forced him into a life of silence and involuntary prophecy. All he felt now was indifference. He could harm him no more. In fact, if not for this man's sister—

Zé stopped suddenly, halting in his eternal run for the first time in twenty-four years. He redirected his vision to the three girls he was searching for—realizing suddenly that, as much as he wished he could deny it, now there were only two. Aisha was pierced through the heart with an arrow, dead before she hit the ground. When Zé realized who had shot the arrow, he clenched his teeth and sped forward, with new motives and determination.

He would still find Charlotte von Zé, oh yes, but not for the reason he had been searching for her for most of his life. Well, perhaps afterward. He would not greet her with open arms and tell her of her destiny. He would not be a friend or a mentor to this girl. Not anymore. Because it was different now. It was personal now.

He would not find her for the sake of the world. He would find her for the sake of her victim. He would find her—for the sake of revenge.


End file.
